Trouble Magnetized, or Danny Does Disney
by Qweb
Summary: Danny takes Grace on vacation to Southern California and finds out that Steve McGarrett's trouble magnetism has rubbed off on him. And now they're home again, with souvenirs.
1. Going on Vacation

_Author's Note: I have been awfully mean to Grace Williams lately. Kidnapped in "Unexpected," injured in "Godless." Danny was starting to scowl at me, so I decided to do something nice and send them on vacation. Of course, that never goes entirely as planned, does it?  
>Disclaimers: I am not employed by the California Tourist Board, the City of Anaheim, the City of Huntington Beach, Disney Resort, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim or any other place visited in this multichapter story. All the places visited are real, though possibly slightly altered for the purposes of this story. All the people are fictional except for two.<br>The Hawaii Five-0 folks do not belong to me nor does anything Disney, apart from souvenirs actually purchased at the park. This story could never take place on the screen because Disney owns ABC and Five-0 is CBS. Never the twain shall meet — except here._

**Trouble Magnetized**

**Or, Danny Does Disney**

**Chapter 1**

**Day 1, Saturday - Going on Vacation**

Danny Williams spread out the travel brochures on his desk, gloating over the colorful folders.

"If you don't stop playing with those, I'm going to confiscate them and burn them," Steve McGarrett said sternly from the doorway.

At the first word, Danny had swept the brochures together, like a kid trying to hide a comic book from a teacher. But when he saw the twinkle in his boss' eyes, Danny threw his body theatrically across the folders to protect them.

"Over my dead body!" he vowed dramatically.

Steve chuckled and tugged on a corner that poked beyond Danny's elbow. Mickey Mouse grinned back at the commander.

I think you're more excited than your daughter," Steve said.

"'More,' no; 'as,' probably," Danny said happily.

"Gonna get your picture taken with Mickey Mouse?" Steve teased.

"Just for you, because you asked, Steven," Danny retorted. "And I expect you to put it on your desk."

"I didn't know you were such a Disney fan," Steve said.

"Don't tell me you don't like Disney," Danny challenged. "That's .. unAmerican! I think I've seen every Disney cartoon, first when I was a kid and again with Grace. I've never been to Disneyland, but the family went to Disney World twice when I was a kid." He laughed at the memory. "I was a teenager the second time and had to pretend not to enjoy myself. Now I can have fun with my daughter."

"I've never been to a Disney park," Steve confessed.

"You, my friend, are not invited. You know why? Because you are a trouble magnet. If I let you go to Disneyland with us, you'd probably blow up Pirates of the Caribbean or shoot Buzz Lightyear."

Steve let Danny's mild rant pass. "It's good of you to do this for Grace."

"I have fun when Grace has fun," Danny corrected. "And I have things planned for myself, too."

He pushed across a folder that had a big red A on it.

"You're going to an Angels game?" Steve asked, incredulous. Danny scoffed at West Coast baseball teams.

"No, I'm going to a Yankees game — in Anaheim," Danny said triumphantly. "The stadium's just a few blocks from our hotel. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. The Yankees were going to the West Coast at the same time California Adventure has this." He flourished another brochure.

Steve laughed. "A food and wine festival? I should have known. So that's why you're taking Grace out of school in May? For the Yankees and a food festival."

"And because it's Disneyland's off season," Danny agreed. "Otherwise I can't afford it. At that, I can't afford to stay at the Disney Resort. But this hotel is just down the street and has a shuttle to the park and a cool looking swimming pool."

"And Rachel is OK with this? Taking Grace out of school?"

"She argued, but Stan agreed with me," Danny said with remembered surprise. "His family went to Disneyland several times and he said the least crowded times to go are May — which is why they started the food festival then — and the first week of December. That would be good because the park's decorated for the holidays, but the crowd is low because people wait for the Christmas / New Year's vacation."

"But you wouldn't get the Yankees in December."

"Nope. Anyway, we talked to Grace's teacher. She agreed that Grace is a good student and won't fall behind if she misses a week. She'll be expected to do a vacation report that includes writing, math, social studies and science."

"How are you going to fit all that in?" Steve asked. "I can see where the writing comes in. And history and geography if she talks about traveling to California, but math and science?"

"We thought we could do some baseball statistics for math. And maybe calculate how fast the plane travels by figuring the distance and the time of the trip, but we haven't figured out the science." Danny chewed his lip in thought.

Steve sat back and rubbed his chin. He leaned forward and poked at another brochure. "Huntington Beach? You're taking a vacation from Honolulu to go to the beach? You hate the beach!"

Danny sighed agreement. "Grace asked especially if we can go to Huntington Beach. She wants to see the International Surfing Museum. She said Kono won a championship in Huntington Beach."

"The U.S. Open, dude," Kono said from the doorway in an exaggerated California drawl. "One of my biggest wins."

"So, I get Yankees and Grace gets Huntington," Danny told Steve.

"Well, if you're going to the beach, maybe you can compare California birds and shells with Waikiki birds and shells. That would be science, wouldn't it?" Steve said.

"Good idea. I'll ask Grace what she thinks," Danny praised as he made a note of the suggestion. He stacked his brochures neatly and picked up the pile. "Time to go. Vacation starts now," he said gleefully.

Danny waved at Kono Kalakaua and Chin Ho Kelly as he left the Five-0 office. "See you in a week," he called.

"Bye, Danny. Have fun!" Kono called. Chin and Steve echoed the sentiment.

Steve watched Danny walk out. When he turned back to the others, he found Chin and Kono watching him quizzically. "What?" he asked.

Chin raised an eyebrow at him. "Didn't you come in with Danny this morning?"

Steve cursed his forgetfulness, sped toward the door and ran after his Jersey friend. He caught up to Danny in the parking lot. The detective was leaning against his Camaro, checking his watch and humming while he patiently waited for Steve to buy a clue.

"'Bout time," Danny said.

Steve realized his friend was laughing at him.

"I've never seen you so happy," Steve realized.

"Have you ever seen me going far away for vacation? Beyond your reach and the governor's?"

Steve made a sour face to think that Danny wanted to escape from him, though he knew he'd called Danny away from his precious daddy time much too often.

Danny saw the face and patted Steve's arm. "Don't sulk. I'll bring you a souvenir. Do you think they make a Rambo Mickey doll?"

Despite himself, Steve snorted with laughter. "Rambo was Army, Danny," he protested.

"Camouflage is camouflage, babe," Danny stated. "But maybe you'd prefer Donald Duck? He's the sailor. You go without your shirt. He goes without pants. It's perfect!"

* * *

><p>Steve drove Danny and Grace to the airport the next morning, so they could catch their 8 a.m. flight. The five-and-a-half hour flight and three hour time difference put them in Los Angeles close to dinnertime, though it seemed just past lunchtime to stomachs still on Hawaiian time.<p>

They decided to pick up a couple of sandwiches at the airport while they waited for their bags. Comfortably full, they picked up their luggage and their rental car and started their California adventure — on the freeways, of course.

It was a good thing they traveled on Saturday, Danny thought, otherwise they would have ended up in bumper-to-bumper, rush hour traffic. On Saturday, the freeways were still full, but not packed.

They headed east on the 105, straight out of the airport, jogged north on the 605 a mere mile to switch to the 5 south which took them straight to Disneyland. Danny had studied his maps diligently, so he knew how to get around the park to his hotel on Harbor Boulevard. Grace goggled out the window for glimpses of the attractions, such as the snowy peak of the Matterhorn Bobsleds ride.

"Look, Daddy," she squealed. "There's the Monorail!"

Sure enough, the sleek, 50-year-old but still futuristic Monorail swept along its track paralleling Harbor for a moment before disappearing back into the Disneyland Resort complex.

"Can we go tonight?" Grace begged.

Danny had gotten six-day park hopper tickets for their seven-night stay. They could spare one for just an evening.

"Are you sure you're not tired?" Danny asked. "It was a long flight."

"I'm not tired," Grace insisted. "It's only 3:30 back home," she pointed out.

"OK," Danny decided. "The tickets should be waiting at the hotel. We'll check in and go straight to the park."

The hotel was used to people dropping off their bags and heading straight to Disneyland. The smiling desk clerk handed Danny the tickets and a park map along with his room key, then pointed them to the shuttle stop.

"The park is open until midnight tonight," she said. "The fireworks are at 9:30." She smiled at Grace who was bouncing happily. "What do you want to ride first?"

"Pirates!" Grace exclaimed.

The young woman opened the park map and showed them where Pirates of the Caribbean was. "Have fun!"

**To be continued**

* * *

><p><em>Note: In the episode where the photographer was killed, the little surfer girl mentions that Kono won the U.S. Open, which is held in my hometown, Huntington Beach.<em>


	2. First Visit to Disneyland

_I do not own Five-0 or Disneyland. Drat. This takes place in a fictional May 2010, before Jenna shows up to put Wo Fat's name on the radar, before the sarin episode where Grace gets her own cell phone. That's not important for this chapter, but I wanted to mention it._

**Chapter 2**

**Day 1, Saturday - First Visit to Disneyland**

With tickets in hand, the Williamses only had to stand in line for a security check and to get through the turnstiles into Disneyland — both short lines at this time of day.

It was starting to get dark and the park looked magical under thousands of lights. They walked past the lighted shops on Main Street. Grace was taking dead aim at the end of Main Street where she could turn left into Adventureland, but Danny was lured to the side by a delectable smell, like the best chocolate-covered cookie ever.

Like a little kid, he pressed his nose against the window of the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor. It took a long moment of goggling before he realized what he was seeing.

"Look, monkey," he marveled. "Hot fudge sundaes in freshly made waffle cones." He looked down at his daughter. "Can I have one, please?"

"Before we go on rides?" Grace asked sternly.

Danny straightened. "You have a valid point, Miss Williams," he conceded. "After rides?" he begged.

"If you're good," Grace said in parental tones.

"Thank you," Danny said humbly. With a wistful glance at the ice cream parlor, he let his daughter pull him down the street.

Left off Main Street past the Tiki Room (back in Hawaii so soon?), the Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones (long line) and Tarzan's Treehouse (no line), then they left Adventureland behind for New Orleans Square and Pirates.

Grace was almost breathless with excitement as they passed under the arches to join the line. "Will we see Captain Jack?"

Danny scratched his jaw. "I don't know, monkey. The ride is older than the movies."

Grace looked disappointed.

"But after the movies became a hit, Disney revamped the ride. You can see Captain Sparrow in three places if you look hard," said a new voice from behind them.

Danny bristled at the idea of a stranger addressing his daughter, but one look abated his concern. The woman in line behind them was shorter than he was and about 10 pounds overweight. She hardly looked threatening in her 2005 Disneyland T-shirt and the driver's cap covered with Disney pins that topped her somewhat frizzy, mouse brown hair. Though not a grandmotherly type, she was old enough to be one (judging by her hands and not her youthful face). She peered benignly through wire-rimmed glasses at Grace who regarded the stranger without trepidation. Why should she be afraid when her father had her back?

"So we will be able to see Captain Jack?" Grace asked eagerly.

"You will," the woman agreed. "I can point him out for you if we get in the same boat."

"Is that OK, daddy?" Grace asked.

"It's OK with me," Danny agreed, starting up a ramp as the line moved along.

"So, where are you from?" the woman asked. (Standard opening gambit at any tourist spot from Anaheim to Edinburgh.)

"New Jersey," Danny answered at the same moment Grace said "Hawaii."

The Williamses regarded each other. "Thirty-two years in New Jersey," Danny reminded his daughter, tapping his chest for emphasis.

"But we live in Hawaii now," Grace countered.

"We're transplants," Danny told the stranger, who successfully suppressed her amusement at the familial byplay.

They hit a switchback in the line, paused at a drinking fountain and continued on.

"Have you ever been to Disneyland before?" the woman asked. (Question Number 2 on the approved, "Not Too Damned Nosy" list.)

"Never been to California before, unless you count LAX. I guess you come a lot," Danny said, nodding at her six-year-old T-shirt.

"I have an annual pass, so I come a lot. I came to see the fireworks tonight."

"You live nearby then?" Danny asked a variation of Question Number 2 himself.

"In Huntington Beach," the woman said.

"Really?" Grace's interest was sparked. "We're going to Huntington Beach on Monday."

"You come from Hawaii to go to our beach?"

"That's what I said," Danny complained in long-suffering parental tones that made his daughter giggle.

The girl explained that they had a friend who had been a professional surfer.

"Oh, and she surfed in the Open?" the woman guessed.

"She won!" Grace said proudly.

"And you want to see the scene of her triumph? That's very nice," the woman said.

"Is it hard to get to?" Danny asked.

"Worried about the crazy California drivers?" the Californian teased. "It's simple and you don't even have to get on the freeway. You know Disneyland is at Harbor and Katella?" Danny nodded. "Take Katella west to Beach Boulevard, turn left and head south until you run into the ocean. Almost literally. Beach Boulevard ends at PCH — sorry, Pacific Coast Highway. If you cross it, you'll drive right into the beach parking lot. If you want to get to the pier, which is where the surfing competitions are held, turn right on PCH and find a parking entrance closer to Main Street. The Huntington Beach Pier is at the end of Main Street, so you have a landmark to look for."

"We were going to see the surfing museum," Grace said.

"I'm not really a beach person," the woman apologized, "So I don't know downtown so well."

"Neither am I," Danny muttered. He gave the museum's address and with a little Googling on smartphones, the woman found the museum just as they slowly approached the Pirates building.

"Not long now," she told Grace, then told Danny that the museum was just off Main Street a couple of short blocks from PCH. She also recommended eating at Ruby's restaurant at the end of the pier. "Love their hamburgers and shakes."

"Where's a good place to eat here?" Danny asked, with a vague wave that encompassed all of Disneyland.

"My favorite is breakfast at the Carnation Café on Main Street. Love the croissant eggs benedict," she sighed. She named a couple of other restaurants inside the park and in Downtown Disney. "Of course, you really ought to make reservations for a character breakfast, if you can. A cute little girl like yours should dine with princesses." She found the reservations number for him. "If you can't get in or don't want to do breakfast, try Goofy's Kitchen for dinner. It's a buffet and the characters wander through all the time. Of course, right now, the most interesting eating is at California Adventure."

Danny and Grace both nodded. "The food festival," Danny said.

"We have tickets for Sweet Sunday tomorrow," Grace said proudly.

"The chocolate program?" the woman laughed. "I'll save you a seat, then. My sister and I are signed up, too. I'll warn you in advance, don't fill up before you go. They serve a little brunch and samples of the foods they demo. You don't want to waste any of that chocolaty goodness."

"Wasting chocolate is a sin. Daddy says so," Grace answered.

"Smart man," the woman said.

They entered the ride building and Grace was distracted from the conversation. An animatronic parrot squawked on a sandy shore as tourist-filled boats passed by on the way to the unloading dock. Grace strained to look ahead to see how long the line was.

Once inside the building, it didn't take long to reach the loading area.

"How many?" the attendant asked.

"Three," Danny said without hesitation, wanting to keep their private guide long enough to point out Capt. Jack Sparrow. He gave the woman an eyebrow raise that said, "if you don't mind?"

She just smiled. The boat seats were plenty big enough for three. It's not like he'd asked her to join him in the Matterhorn Bobsleds where she'd have to sit on his lap!

Danny led the way into the boat with Grace in the middle and the woman on the left. (Port, Danny! He heard his Navy partner scold.)

As the boat queued up for launch, Danny snapped a quick picture of his grinning daughter. "Your first ride at Disneyland."

Their "guide" pointed out the Blue Bayou restaurant as they sailed past, listening to recorded crickets and watching dancing fireflies.

The ride was everything Grace hoped. She loved the splash down the waterfalls and the skeletal pirates guarding their hidden treasures. She squealed when it looked like they were going under a waterfall where an image of squid-faced Davey Jones made threats, but the water turned out to be harmless mist. They emerged in the middle of a battle between a pirate ship and fortress city.

"Uncle Steve would love this!" Danny yelled above the cannons' roar. Grace nodded.

As they sailed into the town, the woman leaned close to the girl. "Now keep a lookout for Captain Sparrow," she advised.

Grace spotted Captain Jack hiding amid women's clothes but almost missed him popping up and down in a barrel. Her guide pointed him out. The last appearance of Captain Sparrow was pretty obvious, right at the ride's end.

"He looks so real," the girl marveled.

"They all do," her father said about the animatronic characters.

"I've heard they're all modeled after real people," the woman said.

As they left the ride, the woman waved. "See you tomorrow," then walked away.

Danny and Grace went on Haunted Mansion, which made Danny grin. "There are 999 happy haunts, but there's room for a thousand. Any volunteers? If you insist on lagging behind, you won't need to volunteer."

He also liked the corny jokes on the Jungle Cruise, like the headhunter who was the "head salesman" of the jungle and was offering a sale, "two of his heads for one of yours."

Then Grace saw the doors just opening for the Tiki Room and dragged him in. The birds cracked jokes and sang, then the floral décor began to croon and even the walls began to talk. "Really, the Hawaiian War Chant?" Danny groused to his giggling daughter. "The walls are doing the Hawaiian War Chant?"

By that time the crowds were getting thick on Main Street waiting for the fireworks. Danny and Grace worked their way down near the ice cream parlor. After the awesome show filled with colorful sparkles and Disney music, they ducked into the sweet shop. Standing in line for a waffle cone, Danny saw the flood of people flowing down Main Street toward the exit.

He decided their free native guide had been worth every penny with her advice not to leave right after the fireworks. He resolved to pick her brain the next day.

Ice cream done and crowd diminished, the Williams family left the park and found their shuttle back to the hotel.

Grace borrowed her father's cell phone so she could tell her mother all about her big day. "Mommy wants to talk to you, Danno."

"Daniel," Rachel said sternly. "Why are you letting Grace stay up so late? It's after 11 there."

"But it's only 8 p.m. in Hawaii," Danny countered. "We figured we wouldn't try to adjust. We're on vacation. We can sleep in and stay up late. That way Grace won't fall asleep during the baseball game on Tuesday."

"I suppose there is a certain logic to that," Rachel admitted. "Have fun."

"We are." He sent Rachel the picture of Grace on Pirates and then forwarded it to Steve, too, with the message, "For her first ride, she wants to be a pirate. She's been hanging around you too much."

_AN: Yes, that was me. I've been known to talk to people in line at Disneyland._


	3. Sweet Sunday

_Author's Note: Disney's California Adventure is undergoing construction, so this description is the DCA that was, not the one that will be. And the Food and Wine Fest is based on 2010. They didn't have one in 2011 because of the construction and don't have one scheduled for this year either._

**Chapter 3**

**Day 2, Sunday - Sweet Sunday at Disney's California Adventure**

Ten a.m didn't sound so early, but when you came from three time zones west, your body said it was 7 a.m. And you really needed to get up before "6" in order to get to the Sweet Sunday program on time.

Danny hauled himself out of bed at 8:30 California time (5:30 Hawaii time!) and woke himself up with a brief shower. They'd had a long flight and a late night yesterday and he smelled stale.

When he touched his daughter's shoulder, she groaned and pulled her covers over her head. "It's vacation, Danno," she muttered in complaint, her eyes firmly closed.

Danny put his lips close to her ear and whispered the siren call that has led many a woman to her doom. Drawing it out like a lover's caress, he crooned, "Chocolate."

Grace's eyes snapped open, as best they could when weighted with sleep sand. "What time is it?" she demanded.

"Almost 9."

"We'll be late!" she exclaimed, grabbing her clothes.

"Shower," her father ordered, pointing a firm finger at the bathroom door.

Grace didn't waste time complaining. She scampered. Danny heard water on, sounds of scrubbing and splashing, water off. He looked at his watch. Three minutes. Steve would be proud of her.

Brushing her hair vigorously, she came out dressed in her princess T-shirt and pants. Danny deftly fastened her hair in two pigtails, then all they needed was to pull on their shoes.

Just as well, because it always takes longer to get into Disneyland (or Disney's California Adventure) than you think.

Though they were just down the street, they had to wait for the shuttle and then go through security. Danny couldn't pass the giant, freestanding letters that formed the word California. He made his impatient daughter wait while he took a photo of her in front of the giant C.

"Danno, we're going to be late," Grace complained, as they passed through the turnstiles at the entrance, hurrying beneath the replica of the Golden Gate Bridge. "It's already 10!"

"The program is at 10:30," her father replied, tucking the admission tickets safely inside his wallet.

Grace stopped tugging at his sleeve. "I thought you said 10," she said suspiciously.

"10:30," Danny corrected, though in truth he'd given himself a little leeway to get sleepy little girls on the move.

Grace calmed instantly and began skipping happily at her father's side while she studied the passersby. "You need a Disney shirt, Daddy," she decided.

Danny's jeans were OK, but his plain white T-shirt stood out in the colorful Disney crowd. "After breakfast," he acquiesced. "Left or right?" he asked himself aloud, studying his park map.

Hmm, the Sweet Sunday program was at the back of the Hollywood Pictures Backlot, to the left, through the over-the-top entry flanked by gilded elephants rampant on pillars.

"Didn't our friend on Pirates say something about getting Fast Passes for Soarin' Over California?"

Grace nodded. Danny looked at his watch, decided they had time, and walked swiftly to the right into Condor Flats, past the sleek silver train cars that smelled of baked goods and hot fudge and the hangar-styled restaurant with the rocket plane bursting out the front. There was already a substantial line forming for Soarin'.

Danny pulled his tickets out of his wallet again and fed them into the Fast Pass machine, holding his breath until it spit out the tickets again, along with two Fast Passes for 12:15. Shying away laughing as rocket engines sprayed vapor with a hissing roar, the Williamses hurried back the way they came. In the Backlot, they walked down a street that seemed to have no end. It continued into infinity on a mural at the end of the street. To the right was a theater marquee for the Hyperion Theater, where the Aladdin show was on the bill. To the left were signs for Sweet Sunday.

Which was good, because Danny was getting hungry.

* * *

><p>"Look, it's our friend from Pirates," Grace said happily as they entered the cordoned off program area.<p>

Round tables with white tablecloths faced a stage full of cooking equipment. Along the back of the room was a buffet table with fruit, pastries, sausages and eggs. To the side was a table with pitchers of juice and coffee urns.

At one of the tables, two women consulted each other about the programs they held. As Grace said, one of them was the woman from Disneyland. There were two empty seats next to them.

"Excuse me, are these seats taken?" Grace asked. Danny fought a grin. He could totally hear her mother in those proper words.

"Hello! Please, take a seat," their native guide exclaimed. "This is the New Jersey family from Hawaii that I told you about," she told the other woman who had to be her sister. She had longer, wavier hair and no glasses, otherwise they could be twins.

"This is Jenny and I'm Kelly," the first woman said.

"Danny and Grace," the man offered.

He approved of the layout. There were chairs at only half of each table, so no one was seated with his back to the stage. And there was a mirror over the cooking station, so the audience could see what was happening on the stovetop. The tables were beginning to fill up and there was a steady migration to and from the buffet.

"We'd better get some food, monkey," Danny said.

"Don't get too much," Kelly said. "Leave room for what they're fixing today."

She showed them the program: chocolate raspberry panna cotta, flourless chocolate torte and chocolate crinkle cookies.

"We should get a serving of each, not just a sample, so leave room," she cautioned. "You can get a 'to go' box, but I wouldn't recommend trying to take the panna cotta home."

"What's a panna cotta?" Grace asked.

"Kind of like a pudding or custard," Jenny answered.

That would be messy to carry around, Grace agreed.

Following the sisters' advice, Danny and Grace took a light breakfast of fruit, a small square of egg casserole and a sausage (two for Danny). They passed up the pastries, even though they looked delicious. Grace carried the plates back to the table while Danny fetched juice and coffee.

Just after they started eating, a waiter came by offering two kinds of sparkling wine. The women took glasses of a cherry red wine with anticipation.

"It's called Magicale and it's pretty sweet. You might not like it," Jenny said.

The waiter offered a small taste and Danny agreed it was too sweet, though he could see how it would go well with chocolate.

"Try the Fairy Tale Cuvee, instead," Kelly suggested.

Danny made a face at the cute, Disneyfied name, but agreed the cuvee was more to his taste. He only took a half a glass, however.

"I'm not really a wine person. I'd rather save my alcohol consumption for one of those beer tastings," he explained. "I don't drink much when I'm with Grace."

Kelly asked Grace how she liked Disneyland and the girls began chatting. Danny concentrated on his food while he gazed around the room.

In the parlance of his childhood comic books, noticing things was Danny Williams' Legion-eligible superpower. It was an innate trait, as his younger siblings knew to their cost. Honed by his police training, it was a formidable talent and one he — alas — could not turn off just because he was on vacation.

His eye caught two teenage boys sitting alone at a table saving a place for their mother who was standing in line buying Magicale at the gift shop across the way. The unsupervised boys weren't being exceptionally rowdy, but they were laughing and goofing around, tossing grapes in the air and catching them in their mouths.

Danny the daddy disapproved and he was about to say something, so he was looking right at the one teen when the boy stopped breathing. He had just caught a grape when his brother cracked a joke. Danny heard his gasping laugh cut off and saw his eyes go wide.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Finally, a little bitty cliffhanger!_


	4. Disney's California Adventure

**Chapter 4**

**Day 2, Sunday – Disney's California Adventure**

The detective was on his feet in an instant. Before the brother realized anything was wrong, Danny leaned over the other boy.

"You need some help?"

The boy clutched his throat and nodded. The brother went silent, staring in non-comprehension.

"Stay still." Danny clasped his hands below the boy's diaphragm and yanked. The Heimlich Maneuver forced the air out of the youngster's lungs and popped out the grape like a champagne cork. The soft missile flew and hit his brother on the cheek, bouncing off to land on the table.

"OK now?" Danny asked, patting the youngster on the shoulder.

"Yes sir, thank you."

"Throat OK? If it's sore, you need to get it looked at," Danny warned, but he doubted a smooth, soft grape would scratch up the teen's windpipe.

"I'm fine now, honest."

The boy's mother and the event manager were both converging on the detective. Danny quickly explained what had happened, reassured the mother and returned to his seat. Hardly anybody else had even noticed the incident. Grace was calmly eating melon. She'd seen her Dad in action before, but Danny's seatmates were staring.

"Do you do that often?" Jenny asked.

"Once or twice," Danny said modestly.

"That's two times," Grace corrected.

"Well, three. You weren't with me the one time."

"Are you a doctor? A paramedic?" Kelly asked.

"He's a police detective," Grace said proudly. "He's with Five-0, that's a Hawaii state police special task force."

"I'm impressed," Kelly said.

Danny shrugged modestly and sought to turn attention away from himself. "Grace wants to collect some shells for a science project. Is Huntington a good place for that?"

The sisters regarded each other doubtfully.

"We're not really beach people, but I don't remember it being a great shell beach," Kelly said.

"What's your project about?" Jenny asked.

Grace explained about needing to do a report that included math and science.

"So it doesn't have to be shells? Then you should go to the Bolsa Chica nature center," Jenny said.

"They're coastal wetlands, very important in the lifecycle of birds and fish and awfully endangered by all the houses and hotels we humans want to build right next to the beach," Kelly said. "And it's just up PCH from the pier. Look…"

She pulled a reporter's notebook out of her purse and drew a quick map. It was basically a right triangle, but the hypotenuse on the left was bowed out in an arc. The arc was labeled PCH and the vertical line Warner Ave. She extended the horizontal line to the right, labeling it Beach Blvd., then added a cross street down (Katella) and a line paralleling Beach at the bottom (Harbor Blvd.). At the northwest corner of Harbor and Katella, she blacked out three connecting circles in a Mickey Mouse symbol.

"The coast curves at Huntington Beach, so from my house I can get to the ocean by going either south or west," Kelly explained.

She bisected PCH with a line labeled pier outside the triangle and Main St. on the inside.

"So you take Beach to PCH," she said, tracing the route with her finger, then turn right to park near Main Street. The surfing museum is about here…" she marked a little star off Main, "…And Ruby's restaurant is at the end of the pier, here." She made an X. "After you finish downtown, continue on PCH until you get to Warner and turn right."

"The parking lot for the nature center is right there, near the intersection," Jenny contributed.

"When you're finished there, continue west on Warner and you'll run into Beach again, and then return the way you came." She tore off the page and handed it over with a flourish.

Danny took it with a bow and a thank you.

Then the program began and they all shut up and watched chocolate magic happen.

* * *

><p>Danny and Grace ate all their panna cotta and their chocolate torte (Grace let her father finish her helping of the rich dessert), but they packed their cookies in a box stored safely in Danny's daypack.<p>

After the program, they said goodbye to the sisters and set out to explore California Adventure, staring with Soarin'. With the Fast Pass, they only had to wait a few minutes. The ride was like hang-gliding over a sampling of California scenery — orange groves, desert, snowy mountains of Yosemite and the sunset coast of Malibu. Grace clutched her father's arm when they flew over a Navy ship where a helicopter was just taking off.

"Just can't get away from Steve, can we?" Danny said in her ear.

Leaving Soarin', they walked past the Grizzly River Run, where gleefully screaming rafters plunged through whitewater.

"Can we go on that?" Grace asked.

Danny frowned at the riders coming off the ride tugging at soaking wet clothes. "Later, when we're ready to go back to the hotel," he said. "I don't want to be wet all day."

They explored the rides on Paradise Pier. The Sun Wheel made Grace squeal and Danny grab for support when the Ferris wheel cars slid back and forth while the wheel turned.

The California Screamin' roller coaster proved to be sneaky. Traditional coasters start with a slow climb up a hill before they plunge down. Screamin' launched the cars up the hill and roared at full tilt, through a loop, blasting surf guitar music all the way. Without consulting, the Williamses got right back in line for a second exhilarating ride.

For lunch they shared one of the food fest specials, gourmet flatbread (call it fancy pizza) and a dainty salad with unusual ingredients that went together better than you'd ever expect.

"Who knew I'd like cilantro on watermelon?" Danny said in surprise.

It was just a light lunch because they were going out to dinner that night.

After eating, Danny wanted to try one of the beer sampling stations. He bought Grace an ice cream cone and deposited her on a bench in Sunshine Plaza where she could admire the fountain sloshing, splashing and pouring in an ever-changing waterfall.

Danny paid his fee at Beers of Asia and the Pacific rim, then snorted when the first thing he saw was his old friend, the Hawaiian beer Longboard.

His fee allowed him to sample one of three beers at each of four tables. He passed the Pacific table and went to Japan. Unfortunately, he didn't like any of the choices he made. The Japanese beer was too sour. The Korean was too bitter. When he got back to the Pacific table, he selected Longboard just to get the taste out of his mouth.

"I should have gone to the Beers of Europe," he told Grace, when he returned. "I didn't even get a whole glassful for my $10."

Grace was focused on nibbling down to the pointed tip of her cone, but still proved to be her father's daughter.

"Daddy, I think that little girl looks lost."

The little tyke was huddled in a corner of a planter, looking around with teary eyes.

When Danny approached her, she flinched away, huddling in on herself. Danny crouched beside her at arm's length. "Are you OK, honey?" he asked gently.

She didn't answer.

"Where's your mommy?"

"Lost," came a tiny voice.

"She's lost or you're lost?"

"Me." The voice was even quieter.

"What did your mommy tell you to do if you got lost?"

The little one thought. "Talk to a p'liceman."

Danny showed her his badge. "I'm a policeman. Can I help you find your mommy?"

The girl looked at him doubtfully. "Where's your police clothes?"

"I'm not wearing my uniform because I'm on vacation. See, that's my daughter over there." Grace waved, licked the last of the ice cream from her fingers and came to join them. The sight of the other girl seemed to give the lost one heart. "Not s'posed to talk to strangers," she said firmly.

"You have to talk to somebody," Grace said logically.

"See that little building over there?" Danny pointed at a nearby information booth where a man in the DCA uniform stood talking to the uniformed woman inside. "Those people have uniforms. They're kind of Disney police. They'll help find your mommy."

Grace held out her hand. "Come on, we'll go together."

Danny escorted the two girls to the Disney cast members. "This young lady has mislaid her mother," he said gravely.

The man brightened. "Are you Amy? I was just asking Rebecca if she'd seen you. Your mommy's been looking for you. I'll call her right now." He spoke into his radio. "She's coming right now," he told Amy. "Look there." He pointed in the direction of the park entrance where a woman was running toward them. Amy ran to hug her.

Everybody smiled to see the reunion.

"Thank you for taking care of Amy," the cast member told Danny.

Danny put his arm around his daughter's neck. "It's just what any father would do," he said. "I'm proud of you, monkey," he told his daughter. "You did a good job making Amy feel better." He steered his daughter back toward Grizzly Rapids. "Come on, let's get wet. Then we can go back to the hotel and change for dinner."

"Where are we going?"

"A nice steakhouse. There's someone I want you to meet."

"Who?" Grace asked curiously.

Danny tweaked her nose. "It's a surprise."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Danny knows someone in California?_

_A/N2: This is where I first tasted Longboard, in summer 2010 before Five-0 started. And it really was the best of the bunch._


	5. Dinner With a Guest

_Author's Note: I think a couple people guessed who Danny's guest is. _

**Chapter 5**

**Day 2, Sunday – Anaheim, Dinner with a Guest**

As per his luck, Danny got smacked in the face with a wave when the round river raft dipped into a trough in the whitewater on Grizzly Rapids. Grace giggled as he climbed out, hair dripping in his eyes, soaked T-shirt nearly transparent as it stuck to his chest. He was glad he'd held his daypack in his lap, so at least his crotch was dry.

He peered inside the waterproof pack. Cushioned by their jackets, the little box of Sweet Sunday leftovers was intact and dry.

"At least we saved the cookies," he said, miming wiping sweat from his face and removing chlorinated "river" water at the same time. He plucked at his soggy shirt.

"Now you have to get a Disney shirt, Danno," Grace said.

"I guess I do."

They went into Everything Under the Sun. Danny avoided the character shirts and chose one that read, "California Adventure." "Because we're having one," he said logically. It was medium blue with a montage of park attractions.

He ducked into the restroom across the road and quickly swapped shirts. Carrying his soggy shirt in his hand, he and Grace caught the shuttle back to their hotel.

With a little time to kill, Danny proposed that they go swimming because he was already damp anyway. Grace had a good time riding down the twisting slide and splashing into the pool.

The women around the pool enjoyed watching the fit, broad-shouldered blond playing with his daughter.

* * *

><p>They showered and changed into nice clothes and drove to the nearby steakhouse. Danny had checked it out online and was prepared for the steep prices. It wasn't that any one item was hugely expensive, but everything was ala carte. Danny had scrimped and saved for most of a year to pay for this trip. This vacation was his splurge for his daughter's happiness and his own sanity.<p>

"Good evening, sir," the headwaiter said.

"We have a reservation. Williams, party of three for six o'clock."

"Yo! Jersey!" a boisterous voice called out.

A blonde with a martini glass in her hand waved exuberantly from a table.

"I believe the rest of your party has already arrived, sir," the headwaiter said, deadpan.

"You think?" Danny said dryly.

The headwaiter summoned a waiter to escort Danny and Grace to their table — though everyone in the restaurant could have pointed it out for them.

Grace hung back a little, shy of this loud stranger. The girl hoped this wasn't Danno's new girlfriend, because Grace wasn't sure they'd get along.

"Hi, munchkin," the woman greeted her.

Grace looked uncertainly at her father. He shook his head reproachfully at their guest. "Can't you behave?" he asked. "Grace, this is Mary Ann McGarrett, Steve's sister. Mary, this is my daughter, Grace."

Oh! Uncle Steve's sister! Right, Grace remembered Uncle Steve saying she lived in Los Angeles. Now Grace was intrigued.

"How much have you had to drink?" Danny demanded of his guest. "Will you be safe to drive home?"

"Relax, Danny. I'm just happy to see you. I've only had this one. I promise," Mary said, gesturing with her almost empty glass. "And I don't have to drive. I took the Metrolink — the train. I live in Norwalk, just a couple blocks from the station."

Grace frowned. "I thought you lived in Los Angeles?"

"I say Los Angeles. People know where Los Angeles is. They don't know Norwalk." Mary made a face. "At least it's in Los Angeles County, unlike the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim." She rolled her eyes. "Artie cursed them."

"Who, the owner?" Danny said in surprise.

"Right, Artie Moreno. Look, they never won a World Series when they were the California Angels, only when they were the Anaheim Angels," Mary insisted, as if Danny was arguing with her. "Now they're the Los Angeles Angels, they're cursed again. They can only win when they admit who they are."

"That's very new age," Danny laughed.

"I'm serious!" Mary protested with a grin.

"We're going to see an Angels game on Wednesday," Grace told Mary.

"No, no, no. We're going to see a Yankees game," Danny corrected. "They just happen to be playing the Angels."

"Just be sure to watch where you park," Mary advised. "You practically need a compass bearing to find your car in their parking lot."

It was a good thing Chin had walked him through a "find where you parked" app, the detective thought. Danny had scoffed about needing one. He was comfortable on city streets. But the app would be handy in a confusing parking lot.

They were interrupted by a waiter taking drink orders. Danny ordered lemonade for his daughter and iced tea for himself. Mary looked at her martini glass and, with an ostentatious sigh, ordered iced tea for herself as well.

"How've you been?" Danny asked, after the waiter left.

"I'm doing OK," the woman said with a shrug. She gave Grace a sidelong glance, as the girl studied her menu.

"I didn't expect you to bring the munchkin along," Mary said in her husky voice. "I wanted to know …"

Danny knew she wanted to know about the investigation into parents' deaths.

"I don't have anything to tell you anyway," Danny answered the unspoken question. "The investigation's at a dead end right now, but you know your brother isn't going to give up."

"I don't think he knows what those words mean," Mary agreed. "How is my big brother?"

"He's fine, as fine as a trouble magnet can be. Did he tell you that we went hiking to see the petroglyphs …?"

"The turtle?" Mary interrupted with a nostalgic sigh. "Dad and Steve took me up there once when I was a kid. I loved the turtle."

Danny smiled, nodded and continued his story.

"So we're up on the side of a mountain and Mr. Navy SEAL commando not only fell and broke his arm, he found a body that had been dumped out of an airplane! Only McGarrett could find a dead fishing boat captain on a cliff!"

"Daddy, is that a proper subject for the dinner table?" Grace said severely, sounding just like her proper British mother, and then, sounding purely like herself, she added, "That's just gross."

"Sorry, monkey, you're right. I'm on vacation. No shop talk."

"Steve's always been a trouble magnet," Mary said. "I remember one time, he was throwing the football around with some of his friends. They had a whole big beach to play on, but he punted the ball right through the kitchen window. There was glass everywhere and when I saw Mom I screamed because I thought Mom was bleeding, but it turned out the ball had landed in Mom's pot of spaghetti sauce and splashed her. Good thing it was just warming up, so she didn't get hurt."

"Did Uncle Steve get punished?" Grace asked with ready sympathy.

"He punished himself," Mary answered. "He was so sick when he thought Mom was hurt. He used his own money he'd been saving to pay to fix the window."

"That sounds like Steve," Danny agreed.

"But, you know, Danny, being a trouble magnet isn't all bad. Steve's helped a lot of people. Being there at the wrong time for him was the right time for them. Like when he pulled a drowning victim out of the surf."

"Danno saved a boy who was choking today," Grace said. "Are you a trouble magnet, too, Danno?"

"Now who's talking about gross things at the table," Danny said.

"You saved a choking victim? Sounds like you are a trouble magnet," Mary teased. "After all, you found Steve. Hey, I'm his little sister. I know how it goes. He got me into trouble all the time."

Danny said firmly, "I am not, nor have I ever been, a trouble magnet."

As if to make a liar out of him, loud voices rang through the room. "Please, sir, there's no smoking allowed in the restaurant. It's a California state law," a waitress protested to a newly arrived customer who apparently had just lit a cigarette before walking in.

"I'll put it out when I'm finished with it!" the customer answered angrily. His English held an accent Danny couldn't recognize.

"Please, if you could just finish it outside," the young woman said persuasively.

The customer shoved the girl away. She slipped and fell, cracking her head against the podium. Danny was on his feet in an instant.

"Hey, pal, leave the girl alone. She's only doing her job. Pick on someone your own size."

Since Danny was a head shorter than the dark-haired man, the comment seemed to enrage him.

"Mind your own business," he roared, and took a swing at the detective. Danny sidestepped easily, caught the fist and twisted it as he continued moving behind the man's back. The angry customer found himself on his knees.

A grin flashed across Danny's face, when he remembered Steve doing this same thing to him.

"You want to cool down now?" Danny asked his victim. "I am an off-duty police officer. If I have to get my badge out, it's going to spoil both our evenings."

The man swore in a foreign language. It was all Greek to Danny. Come to think of it, maybe it really was Greek.

"What? What is happening?" a woman shepherded two small children from the direction of the restrooms. "Why are you attacking my husband?"

"He pushed the young lady when she asked him to put out his cigarette," Danny answered, easing up on the pressure a trifle.

The wife's dark eyes flickered across the scene, taking in the disheveled waitress who had a visible red lump on her temple. The wife's eyes turned cold when they regarded her husband. His cursing had dried up at the first sound of her voice.

She said something in Greek that made him flinch from her scorn, then she reverted to English. "You know there is no smoking. The travel agent made sure you knew, because you are so addicted to your tobacco. And then you hit a woman in this nice restaurant. I am ashamed." She turned her sorrowful eyes on Danny. "Will you let him go, please? He will cause no more trouble."

Danny released him and stepped back, ready for retaliation, as Steve hadn't been. But the man seemed to be thoroughly under his wife's thumb. She said something sharp in Greek. Her husband immediately apologized to the waitress.

"Now we will leave in shame and sorrow," the wife said. "Come, children, we will eat at McDonald's instead."

The children cheered and followed her out happily. The man sighed for the nice dinner he had hoped for, but accepted his punishment and left with another apology. He didn't even give Danny a dirty look.

"Thank you, sir," the waitress said.

Danny made sure she was OK, then went back to the table where Mary and Grace waited. He brushed back his hair with both hands.

"I've never helped a choking victim, found a lost child and stopped a fight all in one day. Not when I was off duty," he complained.

Mary patted his arm. "You know, if you put a plain, ordinary needle next to a magnet, it will become magnetized. I think Steve has rubbed off on you and you've become trouble magnetized."

"No," Danny begged. Mary nodded solemnly. Danny covered his eyes.

* * *

><p>They shared an appetizer of oysters Rockefeller, because Mary had always wanted to try it, then they had steak (though Mary had the spicy Cajun style). Danny and Grace shared orders of Lyonnaise potatoes and grilled asparagus. Mary chose sautéed spinach and mushrooms.<p>

While they ate, the Williamses urged Mary to tell more stories about Steve's misspent youth. She had Grace rocking with laughter while Danny made mental notes for future blackmail purposes.

At the end they shared a piece of legendary hot chocolate cake.

"That's how a vacation day should go, Daddy," Grace laughed. "Chocolate cake for breakfast and dinner."

After dinner, Danny drove Mary to the train station. It was just up Katella right by Angels Stadium. No, actually, it was at Angels Stadium.

"Now you know where you're going on Wednesday," Mary said, pointing at the stadium.

Danny looked up, glad to see the lights of a real stadium again even though the game — played Sunday afternoon — was long over. Then he looked up even farther and farther still. His jaw gaped.

"What?" Mary asked.

"I know they call the stadium the Big A, but I didn't realize there really is one," he said.

Mary glanced up at the towering A-shaped sign with the halo around the top that was lighted because the home team had won. "Pretty impressive, huh?"

"How tall is it?" Grace asked, peering up.

"About 20 stories, I think," Mary said vaguely.

She hugged her friends. "Bye, Danny. Bye, munchkin." Then she hugged Grace again and looked her in the eye. "That one's for my brother. Pass it on for me?"

Grace nodded, then threw her arms around Mary's neck. "That's from Uncle Steve," the girl said. "I'm sure he'll pay me back. It was nice meeting you, Mary," Grace finished, sounding like her mother again.

Mary ruffled the girl's hair. "Nice meeting you, too."

They heard the sound of a train horn.

"Gotta go!" Mary trotted into the station, turned once on the steps to wave and then scurried inside ahead of the arrival of the train.

* * *

><p><em>AN: 1) That's my sister's theory about the Angels' curse.  
>2) There are at least three prime steakhouses in Anaheim not counting Steakhouse 55 at the Disney Resort. The menu here is based on Morton's, but such a ruckus would never happen in that fine establishment.<br>3) All the people I met in Greece were sweethearts, but they smoked like chimneys.  
>4) Remember, this is before Jenna alerts them to the name Wo Fat.<em>


	6. Surf City, Huntington Beach

_Author's Note: No I'm not a member of the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce. I just live there._  
><em>And if you've been missing our other Five-0 friends, you'll find a brief appearance herein.<em>

**Chapter 6**

**Day 3, Monday – "Surf City" Huntington Beach**

Finding Huntington Beach was as easy as Kelly had promised. West on Katella to Beach Boulevard, south on Beach until they reached — well, the beach. If they had gone straight ahead crossing Pacific Coast Highway, they would have driven into the lengthy beach parking lot. Instead Danny turned right on PCH and drove until he could see the pier — not far at all; then he entered the beach parking.

"That must be Ruby's!" Grace said excitedly, pointing at the red-roofed building at the end of the pier. "Can we have lunch there?"

"That's the plan." Danny checked his hand-drawn map. "Well, the street that runs straight at the pier is Main Street. Two blocks up is Olive and that's where the museum is."

"And the Bolsa Chica Wetlands are that way?" Grace asked, pointing west (or was it north?) along PCH. (The sign on PCH said north, but Beach Boulevard was a north/south highway and it intersected with PCH. Curving coasts made terms like "north" and "south" a matter of expediency.)

Danny nodded. "We'll have to drive there. Looks like it's a couple of miles."

Grace started tugging her father toward the crosswalk. She wanted to see Kono in the museum.

It was just a little place, broken up by dividers made of surfboards. Danny liked the collection of guitars in the surf music section. Both of the Williamses were amazed by the historic surfboards, especially the 9-foot solid redwood plank that looked like it would take two men to lift it.

"Good thing they invented fiberglass, Grace," Danny commented.

Looking in the gift shop (OK, gift niche), Grace began to giggle. "You should get this, Danno." She held out a cork coaster. It was laser engraved with a beautiful picture of a pineapple.

"Ha ha," Danny said. "If I want pineapple memorabilia, I'll buy it in Hawaii so I don't have to lug it in my suitcase. Here's a nice magnet, shows the pier and surfers."

They moved to a wall of photos. Danny's quick gaze swept across the display and settled on one; but he waited to let his daughter discover it.

"Look, Danno, it's Kono!" she said excitedly.

They knew their surf instructor's stance too well to not recognize her, even in a long distance shot. And the caption on the photo sealed the deal. "Kono Kalakaua rides to victory in the U.S. Open."

"She was the best," the museum docent said behind them. "Then she was injured and they said she'd never surf again," he finished sadly.

The docent was an older man, just four inches taller than Danny and about 15 years older. His thick mane of hair was bleached white and his skin was deeply tanned. He looked like an old surfer. In fact, he looked a lot like one of the pictures in the Hall of Fame that Danny had just perused.

"She surfs," Grace assured the man. "She's teaching me and my daddy."

"Really?" the man brightened at the thought. "You know Kono? Is she a surf teacher, then?"

"She works with my daddy."

Danny explained the Kono had gone into law enforcement.

"Ah, the family business," the docent said, nodding.

"She's not a professional surfer any more, but she surfs for recreation and teaches us out of friendship."

"I'm glad. She always loved the water. I'm Corey O'Connor, by the way," he said, offering his hand to Danny and then gravely offering it to Grace.

"Didn't I just see your picture in the Hall of Fame?"

The man shrugged. "Hang around long enough and people will give you a lifetime achievement award," he said modestly. "I sure would like to talk to Kono again," he said, looking at her photo wistfully.

Danny looked at his watch, calculated the time difference and pulled out his phone. "They should be at work by now."

* * *

><p>"The car was thoroughly wiped down — except for the underside of the lever to pull the seat forward," Chin said gleefully. (Well, gleefully for laid back, stoic Chin Ho Kelly.) "The print there came back to Toma Mahi'ai. He's got a record for assault and battery, grievous bodily harm…"<p>

"Your basic thug for hire," Steve said, gazing at the rap sheet displayed on the smart table.

"Right, boss," Kono agreed.

"So where can we find Toma?"

"Well, that's the problem," Chin confessed.

"He took a plane to Los Angeles yesterday. He could be anywhere on the mainland by now," Kono said. "But I don't think he was fleeing arrest. He'd had the flight booked for months."

"We need to learn everything we can about him. Who can we talk to, family? Parole officer?" Steve said.

Kono gave a muffled giggle as she studied the electronic files. "Maybe his last arresting officer could help. Oops, he's on the mainland, too." She turned the screen so Steve could see the officer's name.

"Danny?"

"When he was with HPD," she confirmed. "Toma seems to be a loner, no family, no regular girlfriend, but Danny tracked him down two years ago. Maybe he can help us again."

"I can't call him," Steve protested. "He'll kill me."

"With a sonic drill straight through the ear," Chin agreed.

Kono's phone buzzed. She blinked in surprise when she saw the caller ID. "It's fate," she shrugged and answered. "Hey, brah, we were just talking about you."

* * *

><p>"No, no, no!" Danny said instantly. "Don't talk about me. Don't even think about me. I … am … on … vacation," he said, emphasizing every word. "If Steve so much as thinks about me, he might jinx it!"<p>

"If we're not supposed to think of you, why were you thinking of me?" Kono said in amusement.

"I am standing in the International Surfing Museum in Huntington Beach, California. Guess who's in the photo I'm looking at," Danny pronounced.

"Some skinny little Hawaiian girl?" Kono guessed.

"Skinny, but awesome," Danny answered. "Hey, we met a friend of yours."

Danny handed the phone to Corey.

"Kono?" he said hesitantly. "This is Corey O'Connor."

"Corey!" Kono's squeal of delight made Chin and Steve wince. "Howzit, brah? How are the waves in HB?"

The older surfer smiled. "Good for beginners today," he said. "But we've got a storm coming up from Baja. I couldn't believe it when these visitors told me they knew you. They said you're surfing again?"

"Just for recreation." Kono chatted happily for a few minutes with the man who had been one of her mentors on the pro surfing circuit, then had to cut it off when Steve began to look impatient. "I've got to go, Corey. My boss is glaring at me. He wants to talk to Danny."

Corey gave her his number so they could talk another time, then handed the phone back to Danny who had been exploring the exhibits with his daughter.

The detective expected Kono's voice, but got Steve. Danny face-palmed himself as Steve explained they had a suspect whom Danny had arrested.

"Vacation, Steve," Danny said in aggravation. "Holiday, sabbatical, leave, furlough, off duty! Do any of these words sound vaguely familiar?"

Steve restrained himself from answering just as impatiently, because Danny had a valid point. Instead, the commander wheedled. "Come on, Danny. You tracked down Toma when no one else seemed to be able to find him. And that was in your first three weeks on the island."

Even while Danny had been listing his thesaurus of complaints, he had been trying to remember the suspect. Hand over his eyes, he thought back.

"Toma didn't have an family or a steady girlfriend. He changed aliases all the time and liked to pay cash, but he was a surfing nut."

"So?" Steve said.

"As a newbie haole, I didn't realize how big surfing is on the islands, but Toma is a real fanatic. He collects memorabilia. So I went to a collector's convention and walked around until I found him bidding on a surfboard someone famous used."

Danny remembered something half-seen when he and Grace came into the museum. He stepped toward the door until he could read the flyer propped up by the cash register. He cursed at fluent length, but too quietly for Grace to hear.

"What?" Steve demanded. He recognized that the blasphemous litany meant Danny had realized something.

Danny didn't answer. Instead, he waved Corey over and showed him the photo that Steve had sent to his cell phone. "Have you seen this guy?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, he was here yesterday," Corey answered promptly. "He wanted to know if we ever sold any of our collection. He practically drooled over the Duke Kahanamoku hood ornament. He said he was in town for the show."

Corey nodded at the flyer that read "Surfing Memorabilia and Collectibles Show."

"See what you did?" Danny said into the phone. "You jinx!"

"What?" Steve demanded again.

"He's here!" He's in Huntington Beach where I'm on vacation — with my daughter!" Danny yelled. "Kono's friend Corey saw him yesterday. He's going to a memorabilia show that starts Friday."

"OK, OK, calm down," Steve soothed. He didn't want to listen to Danny having a heart attack three thousand miles away. "I'm not asking you to track him down. We'll call Huntington Beach police and put out a BOLO."

"Daddy, what's wrong?" Grace asked, tugging on her father's sleeve.

"Your Uncle Steve is making me work," Danny answered. "Here, bawl him out for me." He handed over the phone.

"Uncle Steve, this is our vacation. Why are you making Daddy work?" Grace asked.

"I'm sorry, Grace," Steve said contritely. "It was really important."

"More important than me?" Grace said sadly. Danny smiled.

Now Steve felt like an utter heel to spoil the little girl's trip. "It won't happen again, sweetie," he promised.

"OK, Uncle Steve. Love you."

"Bye, Grace. Have fun."

Grace shut off the phone and regarded her father.

"That's my girl," he said proudly and high-fived her. "So, what's next? Lunch on the pier? It's a little early …"

"But we're already here," Grace agreed with her father's unspoken assessment. The pier and Ruby's restaurant were around the corner and two blocks down Main Street. The Bolsa Chica was just a mile or two away, but it was too far to walk. They'd have to get the car out, then pay for parking again when they came back.

"OK, burgers and shakes at 11 a.m.," Danny decided.

He and Grace said goodbye to Corey and Danny warned him to expect a visit from the HBPD. The Williams duo walked to the corner of PCH and Main Street. The looked up and down the highway, busy even at 11 a.m. on a weekday in May.

As his meticulous gaze swept over the beach crowd, Danny came to an abrupt halt and slapped his forehead.

"How is this my life?" he mourned.

"Daddy?" Grace said uncertainly.

"Grace, that bad guy Uncle Steve asked me about — he's sitting at that restaurant over there."

* * *

><p><em>AN: You can Google the International Surfing Museum in Huntington Beach. The Duke Kahanamoku hood ornament is real. So is the pineapple drink coaster. You can also find a virtual tour of HB online at surfcityusa dotcom._


	7. Danny Williams and the HBPD

**Chapter 7**

**Day 3, Monday – Danny Williams and the HBPD**

The wanted felon Toma Mahi'ai was sitting at an outdoor table at a small restaurant facing PCH. The group of tables was surrounded by a thigh-high, wrought iron fence that was more of a defining boundary than a barrier.

Grace looked at her father solemnly. "So, back to work?"

"'Fraid so," Danny sighed.

She patted his hand. "It's not your fault, daddy. It's … karma."

"It's Steve McGarrett," Danny contradicted, even as he wondered where his little girl had learned about karma. "Mary was right. He has trouble magnetized me."

The detective's eyes had been searching the streets as he spoke. This was a tourist area. There had to be some sort of security. Ah, back up Main Street, two dark blue uniforms were walking with the purposeful aimlessness of cops on patrol. With his back to the suspect, Danny slipped his badge to his daughter.

"Take this to those officers and tell them that Detective Danny Williams from Hawaii state police has spotted a dangerous felon and is requesting assistance. Got that?"

Grace repeated his words.

"Good girl. When they come over here, you go back to the museum and wait with Corey. OK?"

"OK, Danno."

Danny leaned against the streetlight as if waiting for someone, letting the pole hide his face from Toma. Looking inland up Main Street, he saw his daughter hand his badge to one of the officers who met his eyes with a nod. Then Grace ran left on Olive to go back to the museum. At the same time, looking north on PCH, Danny could see the suspect call for his check. The waitress refilled his coffee cup, then went to calculate the bill. The arrest was going to be just in time, Danny figured.

He met the officers before they could move into sight of the wary suspect.

"We just this minute got a BOLO about a suspect from Hawaii," said the taller officer, a lean-faced Hispanic whose nametag read "Sanchez," as he handed Danny back his badge.

His partner, Altmont, had brown hair and the tan you might expect from someone who patrolled a beach area.

Danny quickly explained the situation, from Steve's phone call to spotting Toma. "I'd have never noticed him if we hadn't just been talking about him. This is just my luck, spending my vacation chasing suspects!"

"We'll do the chasing," Altmont said sympathetically. "You wait here."

"Besides, the guy knows you," Sanchez pointed out.

Danny was happy to oblige. He lurked and watched as the officers approached Toma. They did pretty well, he thought, not making it obvious who they were after. Altmont paused outside the low fence while Sanchez went around to the entrance. Toma couldn't have been sure the officers were after him, but the wicked flee where no man pursues.

Toma stood as if heading to the cash register, then flung his coffee and the cup into Altmont's face. While the officer ducked the heavy mug and clawed hot coffee out of his eyes, Toma vaulted the fence and ran. Sanchez chased after, barking information into his shoulder mike.

Toma ran fleet as a track star. Soon he would be lost in the crowd — except — naturally! — he was running straight at Danny.

The detective sighed for the inevitable. A young man in a wetsuit paused for the traffic light, carrying a surfboard under his arm. As Toma looked over his shoulder to gauge pursuit, Danny pushed the tail of the surfboard into the suspect's path. The surfer swiveled like a hinge and Toma ran headlong into the fiberglass "door." He rebounded and fell flat on his back, groaning.

"What?" the surfer began.

"Hey, sorry, totally my fault," Danny told the young man as he knelt beside the fallen man — as he knelt on the suspect's arm, actually. "I'll tell the cops you weren't responsible."

The surfer saw the two uniforms running in their direction and decided he'd better hit the beach before he got caught playing hooky. He didn't consider that now that he was in college, he could cut classes legally. The light changed and, with a murmur of thanks to Danny, the surfer scampered across PCH (as best as a man can scamper carrying a surfboard and a guilty conscience).

The officers didn't pay him any attention as they ran to claim their prize. Toma was cuffed and on his knees when he finally cleared his head with a shake and recognized the shortest of the three men surrounding him.

"Williams?" he exclaimed. "But how? You're in Hawaii."

"You can't escape from Five-0," Danny said in his best spooky voice. "You're lucky I'm the one who found you. McGarrett would have hit you with a tank instead of a surfboard."

Toma hunched his shoulders. Steve had a fearsome reputation.

"We'll need you to do some paperwork, detective," Sanchez said apologetically.

"Yeah, just let me get my daughter from the museum."

The cops hauled Toma to his feet.

"Smile," Danny instructed, holding up his phone as a camera.

The cops did. Toma scowled. The camera clicked.

"Thank you," Danny said with exaggerated cheerfulness.

* * *

><p>He went to find his daughter, worried that she would be worried. He found her demonstrating for Corey on a practice board what she had learned from Kono about surfing.<p>

But she broke off immediately and ran to her father. "Danno!" She had been worried.

"No problem, monkey," he reassured her. "But now I have to go to the station to make a report."

"Do we get to ride in a police car?" Grace asked eagerly. She rode in her dad's car all the time and it did have a siren, but it wasn't the same thing as a black and white.

"I don't suppose we have a choice," Danny answered.

* * *

><p>On the short ride up Main Street to the police station at City Hall, Danny thumbed a brief message on his phone and emailed the photo.<p>

In Five-0 headquarters, Steve's phone beeped. "It's a photo from Danny," he told the others.

He expected a picture of Grace at the beach. Instead he got two cops holding a familiar suspect. The message read: "You're a jinx!"

"Danny caught the guy," Chin commented, looking over Steve's shoulder.

"You are in so much trouble, boss," Kono said. They all knew now Danny would have to spend precious Grace time giving a report at the police station. "No souvenirs for you."

Steve regarded the photo sadly. "And I was looking forward to those mouse ears," he said mournfully.

* * *

><p>Fortunately Sanchez was a father. While his partner was treated for coffee burns (no worse than a sunburn, fortunately, and HBPD was used to sunburn treatment), Sanchez found some crayons and paper for Grace and took a report from Danny as quickly as he could.<p>

But it was still about two hours from when Danny spotted Toma before he was ready to go.

"Are you done yet? I'm hungry," Grace complained.

"So much for our early lunch," Danny commiserated.

"There's a good food court across the street, in the Albertson's center," Sanchez offered.

"Thanks, but we had our hearts set on Ruby's," Danny answered. "And our car's at the beach."

Sanchez took them back and Grace gave him one of the pictures she had drawn, of a pier with a red-roofed building at the end and surfers in the water below.

* * *

><p>The long walk out to the restaurant at the end of the pier just whetted their appetites. It was worth it, though, for big juicy burgers and milkshakes that literally overflowed their tall glasses. (The servers brought the overflow in the metal mixing cups.) The view of the ocean was compromised by the salt spray that filmed the windows, but it was pretty cool to look out eye to eye with a seagull that seemed to be floating on the brisk ocean breeze.<p>

They sauntered back to the car, pausing to admire the semi-pro kite fliers putting their colorful and elaborate kites through their paces. There was always wind for kite flying at the beach.

Grace insisted on getting a Surf City Huntington Beach baseball cap while Danny succumbed to the lure of another T-shirt with a sunset picture of the pier on it.

Danny drove the rental car west/north on PCH. (The highway signs said north.) He found Warner easily, there weren't many side streets in this section. He turned right, heading east? Heading away from the Pacific, at any rate, and made a quick right into the gravel parking lot of the nature center.

Grace had done her online research so she knew how the wetlands provided breeding habitat for birds and fish. Without coastal wetlands to offer protection, small fry (baby fish) would have no place to grow big, which would have an impact on ocean fishing, and many birds would have no safe place to build nests. After taking notes in the interpretive center, Grace and her father set out on the trail into the wetlands. They concentrated on spotting birds, figuring that was easier than spotting baby fish. With binoculars and a bird field guide in hand, they looked like pro bird watchers. After their Internet research, they had marked pages in the field guide so they could look up the most common birds of the area. The observational skills and good memory that made Danny a good detective worked fine on bird watching too, a little to his surprise. And Grace had inherited them, too.

"Look at the black ones swimming in the water, Danno," Grace said excitedly. "Those are coots, aren't they?"

Danny double-checked the page. "American coot," he agreed, and marked it down. "And that tall white one is some kind of egret."

They debated over the book and finally settled on snowy egret. A blackbird clung to a slender reed. They studied its shoulder patch and decided it was a red-winged blackbird.

They saw several birds probing for food in the sand, but they didn't know enough to tell a marbled godwit from a long-billed dowitcher, especially when the birds had the light coming from behind them. They saw one that was definitely some kind of plover and a hummingbird zipped past them making an angry chipping sound.

And, of course, there were seagulls by the dozens, but telling one species from another was almost impossible for the first-time bird watchers.

Grace took some photos to use in her report; then they headed back to the car. They went east on Warner Avenue until, as promised, it met Beach Boulevard and they turned left to retrace their route back to the hotel.

* * *

><p>Tuesday was Grace's day to choose activities and she made her wishes known the night before. She was anxious to go back to Disneyland.<p>

After saving a life, protecting a waitress and catching a felon — on his vacation! —Danny was beginning to feel paranoid. But, surely, nothing bad could happen at Disneyland. Could it? He fell asleep worrying about the possibilities of him disrupting the Happiest Place on Earth.

**To Be Continued**


	8. Grace's Day at Disneyland

**Chapter 8**

**Day 4, Tuesday – Grace's day at Disneyland**

Danny woke with a spear of sunshine stabbing his eyes. The one crack in the curtain and it aimed the morning sun right at him! He rolled over and saw two things: the hotel alarm clock read 7:04 and his daughter's eyes were regarded him brightly, as if she had been awake for some time, but hadn't wanted to wake up her father.

"Can we get up now?" she asked without moving, blankets tucked up to her chin.

So much for sticking to Hawaiian time.

"Of course, we can, monkey. This is your day."

Grace sprang from her bed, fully dressed in a pink Disney princess T-shirt and complementing rose-colored pants. She had been up for awhile. "Then hurry, Daddy. I want to ride some rides before breakfast."

Danny agreed to hustle. In the bathroom, he cleaned up and changed into jeans and his lightly worn California Adventure shirt. When he came out, Grace had used the in-room coffee maker to fix him a cup while she sipped on orange juice from the mini-fridge.

"So, what's the plan, General Gracie?"

"Admiral Gracie," she corrected.

"That's one more count against Super SEAL," Danny sighed.

Grace spread out the Disneyland map on her bed and described her battle plan. Hit a few of Tomorrowland's popular rides before breakfast, before the lines got too long, then back to Main Street to eat at the Carnation Cafe that Kelly had recommended.

"Then we'll hit Fantasyland and maybe Toontown."

"Sounds like a plan," Danny agreed. "But you know what Commander McGarrett says about battle plans."

Grace nodded. "They never last past the first engagement. So we need to be ready to adapt, if the lines look too long or something."

Danny nodded. "Just remember. We still have a couple of days, so we don't have to exhaust ourselves doing everything today."

"OK, but hurry!" Grace set her glass on the sink and leaped for the door. Danny shouldered his daypack and followed.

First Grace wanted to go on the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, because it always had long lines. They detoured to get Fast Passes for Star Tours, then got in the already substantial line for the submarines. Danny could see why it took awhile. Everybody inside had to climb out before anyone outside could climb in. The nature of a submarine meant loading wasn't as efficient as, say Pirates, where one person could be entering from the left (port!) as the other was exiting to the right (starboard!).

But standing in line gave Danny and Grace a chance to watch the Monorails pass above the colorful lagoon and to laugh at the animatronic seagulls calling "Mine! Mine!" from their rocky perch in the water. The yellow subs looked as real as the tourist subs at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Danny thought. But when the ride was over, he had to admit that you didn't get talking fish in Hawaii.

They hurried to use their Fast Passes at Star Tours. It was cool simulator ride, like being inside a Star Wars movie. When the robot pilot said, "I always wanted to do this," as he dove the Starspeeder into the Death Star trench, Danny thought, "Me, too!"

After exiting (through the gift shop), they went to Space Mountain, enjoying the twisting speeding roller coaster in the dark!

They started back to Main Street for breakfast, but detoured into the Buzz Lightyear ride when they saw the wait time listed at 5 minutes. If Star Tours was like being in a movie, this ride with an entrance opposite Star Tours was like being inside a video game. Danny and Grace climbed in their little space cruiser and readied their blasters. As they traveled along, spinning the cruiser back and forth, they racked up points firing at anything with Zurg's Z symbol. When Danny got the hang of aiming the chunky blaster, his weapons experience and childhood gaming skills joined forces to rack up a six-digit score. Grace stopped firing herself to watch the counter click up. She threw her hands up in triumph just as a white light flashed.

"Space Ranger!" she crowed.

As they left (through the gift shop, of course) they saw a bank of monitors with computer keyboards beneath. They realized the ride took pictures and you could email them to your friends. Some of the pictures weren't any good, with people's hands or hats in front of their faces. The Williams' photos, however, caught Grace just as she threw up her hands and Danny with his blaster ready, looking for another target. Grace keyed in her mother's email address and sent one to Danny's email, too; then, secure in the knowledge that his partner couldn't beat his score on this game, Danny sent a copy to Steve's email with the message, "Triple Banana!"

They finally made it to the Carnation Cafe where they had to stand in line again, but it didn't take too long before they were seated at the metal tables in the narrow outdoor cafe. Danny chose the recommended croissant benedict and Grace went for the Mickey waffle. Both were served with a helping of the tastiest fruit they'd ever tried, and that was saying something for the pair from Hawaii. Danny's eggs were also served with a side of fried potatoes. Yum! The only problem was the eggs started to get cold quickly, but that's what happens when you eat outdoors.

As they were polishing off their breakfasts, an older man in chef's whites introduced himself as Chef Oscar and asked if they were enjoying their meals. When Grace told him this was their first trip to Disneyland, he fished in his pocket and handed her a package with two cloisonné pins featuring the cafe, with a little Chef Oscar in front.

"One to keep and one to trade," the smiling man informed the delighted girl, before he went on to greet some of the other customers.

Grace carefully put away the pins in her wallet that hung around her neck.

"Now what?" her father asked as they left the cafe. "Fantasyland?"

But Grace's eye was drawn to the train just leaving Main Street Station. At the cafe, they were actually closer to the front of the park than to Fantasyland. They went up the steps to the station and after a short wait, boarded the next train for a trip around the park. After a stop at New Orleans Square, where they got a daylight look at the Haunted Mansion, the train headed into the backcountry. Out on the Rivers of America, they could see the gleaming white Mark Twain riverboat steaming along, past swimming ducks (real) and friendly Indians (animatronic) waving from the riverbank. As they approached the Toontown Station, they went through a kind of junky looking area, feeling like they were looking behind the scenes.

"Is that a dog house?" Grace asked, looking ahead.

As they passed, they could see it was a doghouse with the name Indiana over the door. Father and daughter gleefully met each others' eyes, "The dog's name was Indiana!" they exclaimed, giggling like mad and appreciating it all the more because no one else on the train seemed to notice the movie reference.

After Toontown Station, the train passed It's a Small World and they caught a glimpse of the Matterhorn before the train went behind the scenes again, showing them a nursery with plants ready to be transported throughout the park. The Monorail whooshed past. The train pulled up to the Tomorrowland Station, letting people on and off, before diving into a tunnel that took them to the Grand Canyon — a diorama of stuffed native creatures — and the Primeval World — where animatronic dinosaurs moved and roared, and a stegosaurus did battle with a T-Rex as a volcano spouted lava in the background.

They emerged back into the present and chugged into Main Street Station.

"Can we look at the fire station?" Danny asked, as they came down the station steps.

Grace agreed. She posed for a picture in front of the antique engine. This one was emailed to Danny's father, the firefighter. Then they went back out to the square and Danny took a picture of Grace with the castle in the background. This one was sent to Danny's mother, because he didn't want to be accused of favoritism. While he was thumbing in the address, Grace saw the horse-drawn trolley coming down the street toward them and suggested riding the trolley up to the castle. They started walking toward the small group waiting at the stop.

"Danny!

Surprised to hear his name called, Danny turned. He saw a toddler racing on chubby legs with a frantic mother in hot pursuit.

"Horsey!" young Danny squealed in glee, heading straight for a collision with the legs of the draft horse pulling the trolley toward its stop. The placid palomino was moving slowly, but the child was moving fast. His mother wasn't going to catch him before the toddler flung himself under the heavy hooves trying to hug the horsey.

The detective lunged, caught the little boy around the waist and swung him up and away from the nice horsey. The phlegmatic horse shuffled its feet and snorted in alarm, but calmed quickly under the driver's steady hand.

Danny set his namesake on his feet and crouched beside the wide-eyed toddler.

"Horses do not like hugs," adult Danny said seriously.

"No?" the boy said uncertainly, fingers in his mouth. He stepped back against his mother's knees for reassurance.

"No. Horses do not like hugs," Danny said firmly.

The trolley driver had set his brake and unlatched the gate to release his passengers. He came over to confirm Danny's words and, because he wore a uniform with a shiny cap, the boy believed. The driver demonstrated how to stroke the palomino's neck. Mom lifted her Danny up to touch the horsey, saying thank you to grownup Danny. Grace patted the horse, then the Williams duo boarded the trolley for a stately ride up Main Street toward Sleeping Beauty's Castle. This time, after asking a stranger to take a photo of them in front of the famous pink landmark, they crossed the drawbridge and entered Fantasyland.

Grace was drawn to the white steeds on the carousel in the center of the courtyard.

"Horsey!" she joked, making her father laugh.

"I think it's OK to hug these," he said.

The two cut left when the gate opened and Grace spotted a horse in the outer row garbed with carved, silver and gold sleigh bells with flowers behind its ears.

Grace quickly claimed it, climbing aboard while Danny swung into the saddle of the horse next door.

"What a pretty girl," Grace crooned, patting the flower bedecked neck.

Though none of the horses had boy or girl parts, Danny looked at the heavy neck and proud carriage and offered the opinion that this was a male horse.

"With flowers in his hair?" the girl questioned. Then she remembered some of the Polynesian dancers she'd seen. Big, manly men with flower leis on their heads. "Maybe he's a Hawaiian horse."

"Maybe he's just secure in his masculinity," Danny suggested, knowing that wearing flowers was where he personally drew the line.

The carousel began and they rode in circles to the tune of Once Upon a Dream. The detective studied the pictures in the center of the merry-go-round and wondered why the King Arthur Carrousel (yes, two Rs) was decorated with images from Sleeping Beauty. Then he shrugged. It was Sleeping Beauty's castle, after all. Maybe King Arthur decorated the "carrousel" to flatter her. (Prince Phillip better watch out!)

* * *

><p><em>AN: Chef Oscar was just honored for 50 years working at Disneyland. The Carnation Café is closed for renovation into an indoor restaurant. (Hope they don't change the menu.) And Jingles is my favorite carousel horse. More Disneyland in Chapter 9._


	9. More Disneyland, More Trouble

_So, I tried top ost this yesterday and it somehow got stuck in FFN. You just couldn't get to the chapter, as some of my devoted readers kindly told me. So I killed chapter 9 and now I'm re-uploading it and re-posting it. Let's see if it works this time._

**Chapter 9**

**Day 4, Tuesday – A Bit More Disneyland, A Bit More Trouble**

After posing for a picture with her flowered horsey friend, Grace led Danny to the nearby Dumbo ride. Dumbo the Flying Elephant always had a longish line, but Grace waited patiently until she reached the front of the line and received the black, wooden feather that signified it was her turn to ride. She ran for one of the Dumbos wearing a pink hat. It was fun working the controls, making the elephant rise and dive while her father pretended to clutch the sides and complained that her driving was worse than his partner's.

"Wait 'til we get to the Autopia," Grace threatened.

Danny hid his eyes. "My daughter on a mini-freeway! I thought I had seven more years before I had to worry about that!"

Next door to Dumbo was the Casey Jr. Circus Train.

"But officer…!" Danny joked with the attendant who locked them in a cage like wild animals. The Williamses rode around tracks, looking down on the channel where the Storybook Land Canal Boats cruised. Grace was impressed by the miniature houses.

"Are we going on that?" Danny asked.

"Later," Grace promised.

First they had to hit the dark rides in the courtyard around the carousel.

"Are we doing all four?" Danny asked.

"My friend Emma said Peter Pan and Mr. Toad are the best," Grace answered. Her schoolmate used to live in Southern California and had given Grace many tips about Disneyland. Grace had also researched Disneyland for the history portion of her school report, which has also helped her decide what she wanted to see most.

Danny cast his eyes over the disrespected Snow White and Pinocchio rides on the west side of the courtyard. He clutched Grace's shoulder and pointed up at something most visitors never noticed. The evil queen peeked out of the second story window above the Snow White ride, and then disappeared again.

Father and daughter met each others' eyes. "Ooh!"

Danny decided Emma had good taste in rides. Mr. Toad and Peter Pan made a nice contrast. The name, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, summed up the adventure nicely with whistle blowing policemen and kegs of dynamite, while Peter Pan's Flight was a pretty journey, with pirate ships flying above London at night.

Consulting their map, the Williams pair rounded a corner to find the Mad Tea Party. Danny spun the center wheel with all his strength, sending their teacup into a mad whirl that left them dizzy and giggling.

They were ready for something peaceful after that, and the canal boats were just across the way.

As they wound their way through the line, Grace's eye was caught by a lanyard of pins around an older man's neck. They kept passing him as the line weaved back and forth.

"Look, Danno, it's the horse I rode," Grace exclaimed, pointing at one of the pins. Then she blushed, when the stranger looked at her, but the pin collector held out the lanyard for her to examine the carousel horse pin.

Sure enough, they could see it was the same horse, with dangling bells and flowers in his hair.

"That's Jingles," the man said. "He's the lead horse of the carousel, the one the operator counts as he passes so he knows when to stop the ride."

"The horse has a name?" Danny asked skeptically.

"They might all have names, at least, all the outer row horses," the collector replied. ""But I only know a few. This set of pins came with name cards."

The line moved and the collector was separated from the Williamses. When it switched back and they came together again, the man said, "This is a duplicate. I'll trade you."

Grace brightened and pulled out the pins Chef Oscar had given her. She explained where she got them as she separated the two. The collector was eager to trade then, because Chef Oscar didn't give out his pins to just anyone.

With her new pin fastened on her shirt, Grace carefully climbed in the canal boat, which began its trip through Storybookland by going through the toothed mouth of Monstro the Whale.

"And a-whale we go!" the woman driving the boat exclaimed.

Danny rolled his eyes in an "I can't believe you said that!" expression. The woman winked and continued her spiel.

Grace was fascinated by the miniature buildings along the canal, particularly the golden dome of the sultan's palace gleaming above the entire city of Agrabah. Danny liked the little waterwheel and the windmill and he laughed at and snapped a quick picture of the full-sized mallard duck taking a nap on the beach next to Prince Eric's miniature sailing ship.

When they left the ride, Danny asked plaintively if it was time for lunch yet. "I'm hungry, Admiral Gracie."

Grace was already heading for the end of the line for the Matterhorn Bobsleds. She hesitated, realizing she was getting hungry, too. "After the Matterhorn?"

Danny agreed. Neither one would want to ride a roller coaster right after eating. The line gave them half an hour to decide where they wanted to go, so they unfolded their map.

"I wanted to go to that restaurant in Pirates," Grace said.

"The Blue Bayou," Danny said. "That's …" He studied the legend. "… Number 18 here, in New Orleans Square and we're at the Matterhorn, Number 61, clear over here in Fantasyland." That was a long ways, clear on the other side of the park. "And we'd probably have to wait to get in, because it's a sit-down restaurant," Danny warned. "It's your decision, Grace. This is your day."

"I don't want to walk that far," Grace admitted. "What about that pizza place we saw this morning? In Tomorrowland."

"I'm always ready for pizza." Danny found it on the map. "Redd Rockett's Pizza Port."

As he folded the map away, he heard a scuffle from ahead in the line. Two groups of boys from rival high schools — obvious from the shirts they wore and the names they were calling each other — were engaged in a shoving match. Families in the line around them were edging away, but were constrained by the chains that defined the queue.

Danny moved up as a young Chinese couple flinched back.

"If you're so devoted to your schools, shouldn't you be in them," the detective said, inserting himself between the two groups. Now it was their turn to flinch back, because it was just past 1 p.m. on a school day.

"Ah, no sir," said one young man, the word "officer" unsaid in his attitude. "Today was a short day for a teacher in-service."

"Lucky you," Danny said. "You get out early to have some fun. But black eyes and bruises aren't any fun. Neither is getting kicked out of the park." He nodded at an approaching cast member. "So why don't you go have your fun at opposite ends of the park?"

All the boys were as tall or taller than Danny, but they were still boys and he was an adult with the implicit authority of a father and a cop.

"We haven't ridden Space Mountain yet," one teen suggested.

His pals muttered agreement.

"How about Indy, guys?" one of the other group named a ride in Adventureland on the opposite side of the park.

The two groups ducked under two rows of chains and left in separate directions. Danny watched them go, then realized the people in the line were watching him.

"You want to keep the line moving?" he asked, gesturing at the large gap that had opened between the people ignorant of the little drama and the people caught up in it.

"Yes sir!" a young woman answered, catching her boyfriend's arm and towing him forward with determination.

Danny waited until Grace caught up to him, then rejoined his place in line.

After the thrilling bobsled ride splashed to its finish, Danny and Grace walked around the mountain toward the Pizza Port. They had to pass the Tomorrowland Terrace to get there, but, at the moment, the burgers and chicken sandwiches on the fast food restaurant's menu didn't seem as appealing as the pizza calling from beyond.

The Pizza Port proved to be a cafeteria-style restaurant with stations for salads, pizza, pasta and more. They picked cartons of milk from a cooler and a large salad to share. You could get pizza by the slice, but they selected a whole pepperoni pizza for the two of them.

When they left the air-conditioned restaurant, the afternoon sun seemed warmer than Danny remembered. Grace led the way to Mickey's Toontown because she wanted to see Mickey Mouse. She patiently stood in line at his Toontown house so her father could take a picture.

It was still too soon after lunch for roller coasters, so they passed by Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin and Gadget's Go Coaster. Danny impressed his daughter by knowing that Gadget was the inventor mouse girl for Chip N Dale's Rescue Rangers, a cartoon show watched by his younger sisters. Thirteen-year-old Danny hadn't watched the cartoon. No, it was his sisters that watched it. That was his story then. But, oddly, what would have made him uncool to his 13-year-old friends made his very cool to his 8-year-old daughter.

They did enjoy pressing buttons and pulling levers in the interactive Toontown, activating noises and gizmos. Grace used her father's phone to take a photo of him listening to the police phone. Then she filmed a short movie of him pressing the plunger at the Fireworks Factory so she could record the crazy sound effects that resulted. She sent that movie straight to Uncle Steve before Danny could stop her, then she sent the police picture to Uncle Chin. This prompted Kono to message, "What about me?" So they sent her a picture of Grace trying to lift a sagging barbell. Then they had to take pictures for Grandpa Williams at the Toontown Fire station and pictures for Grandma Williams and for Rachel inside Minnie Mouse's kitchen.

_A-whale we go… I swear that's what the woman said when I rode that ride last time._

**To be continued … still at Disneyland**


	10. Finally Tired of Disneyland

**Chapter 10**

**Day 4, Tuesday – Finally Tired of Disneyland, Visiting Downtown Disney**

When they finished playing around in Toontown, they went to It's a Small World, just outside the Toontown entrance. Danny dreaded listening to the repetitive song for a whole boat ride, but found the ride wasn't as bad as expected. Sitting down in an air-conditioned ride for 15 minutes felt quite nice after traipsing around in the Anaheim sun. Even if the song got annoying, there was plenty to see. Danny and Grace laughed at the fellow who was hanging onto the tail of his flying carpet and competed to see how many Disney characters they could find, newly added to the children of the world. Aladdin and Jasmine were pretty obvious on their flying carpet.

Flash photos weren't allowed inside the ride, but Danny sneaked a quick one of Lilo and Stitch surfing in the Hawaii display. He wished he could send that one to Kono, but, since he took it with his camera (which had flash) and not his phone, he'd have to download it to a computer first.

When they left the ride (through the gift shop), Grace spotted a couple just leaving a bench and claimed it with a sigh. Danny put his arm around her.

"You tired, monkey? We can go back to the hotel," he suggested.

"I'm not 'tired' tired," the girl explained. "I'm just tired of standing in line."

Danny stretched out his legs and flexed his weary feet. "I wouldn't mind sitting down for awhile," he admitted. They could go shopping, but that meant more walking. They could find a restaurant, but it was too soon for dinner. "Hey, I think there's a movie theater in Downtown Disney."

Grace brightened up, snatched her father's smart phone and soon found out what was playing at the AMC theater. There were several things that looked good, but only a couple were due to start in less than an hour.

"Now we need to walk some more," Grace sighed.

"Maybe not," Danny said, studying his Downtown Disney map. "Let's take the Monorail."

Climbing up the steep switchback path — you got your exercise in the Monorail line — Danny and Grace arrived just as the orange Monorail left the station.

"More waiting," Grace sighed, leaning against her father's leg, as she surveyed the empty platform. They went to look down on the submarines cruising on the lagoon.

A woman and little girl arriving just behind them went to one of the attendants. "Can we ride up front?" the woman asked. The attendant told her to stand near the gate at the head of the platform.

Curious, Danny wandered over. "Is there room for four up front?" he asked.

The woman smiled at father and daughter. "Join us."

The two girls admired each other's Princess shirts and began talking about their favorite rides, while their parents also compared notes.

When Monorail Purple arrived, they waited for the passengers to disembark, then the cast member ushered them to the door farthest front, in the nose compartment just in front of the driver. It was a little warm, like being in a greenhouse, but when the Monorail started, they had an amazing view of the trip skirting Tomorrowland, running alongside Harbor Boulevard, then cruising into California Adventure, across the Golden Gate Bridge and through the Grand Californian Hotel before arriving a the Downtown Disney station. The woman and her daughter were staying aboard for the round trip, but Danny and Grace got off. They made sure to get their hands stamped so they could get back in the park, then they crossed the concourse to the AMC Theater with 10 minutes to spare before the start of King Fu Panda 2. (Or, to be more accurate, 10 minutes before the 20 minutes of previews before Kung Fu Panda 2.) They had time to visit the restrooms and buy a bucket of popcorn before taking their seats.

Danny laughed himself sick at the antics of Po and the Furious Five. The scene where an overhead view shows the dragon costume gobbling up bad guys in a maze of streets reminded Danny of his days as Piscataway, New Jersey's, high point champion in Ms. Pacman.

Despite the popcorn, Grace was ready for dinner when the movie was over. She tugged her dad across the way to a building that looked like an ancient jungle temple but was the Rainforest Café. They paused to watch a performance by live parrots before going into the restaurant (through the gift shop — even restaurants have gift shops these days).

Danny and Grace had some trouble making a choice from their respective menus.

"Not pizza. Not pasta," Danny said and Grace agreed. "Definitely not Taste of the Islands," Danny continued, making a face that made Grace giggle.

Grace tried to talk her father into having a healthy salad, but he protested he'd had a salad for lunch, along with their pizza.

Grace giggled about having a Gorilla Grilled Cheese with a banana, but decided that was too close to pizza also. She went with a chicken nuggets/popcorn shrimp combo, choosing carrot sticks for her side dish. Danny chose the Reuben sandwich. "Sauerkraut and cole slaw, is that enough vegetables for you, miss?"

Food aside, Grace enjoyed the restaurant where, periodically, thunder rumbled and the jungle animals came to life. She particularly liked the gorilla beating his chest.

After dinner, Grace was ready to go back to the hotel room.

"It's been a long day," Danny agreed. "Maybe we can find Kung Fu Panda 1 on On Demand."

"Sounds like a plan," the girl agreed.

They had to walk east, pretty much the full length of Downtown Disney, then go through security and cross the plaza between the two park entrances to get to the hotel shuttle stop, but after a movie and dinner, their feet were well rested.

They looked all around as they walked, because they hadn't come this way before. Danny studied the restaurants. Grace eyed the shops, particularly the Build-a-Bear Workshop. Danny noticed things Grace didn't, like the cast member in a dark jacket with a corkscrew wire dangling behind his ear. Two sets of watchful eyes met, recognized kindred spirits and crinkled at the corners. The men exchanged nods and Danny strolled on.

The Williams twosome stopped to look at a window display. In the reflection, Danny saw a man snatch a woman's purse and run. "In my direction, again?" he thought in aggravation. The security man flashed into pursuit when the woman screamed.

Danny took his half-empty plastic water bottle from his jacket pocket and threw it with a shortstop's pinpoint accuracy. It bounced off the suspect's knee, startling him, and then fell between his feet, making him stumble just enough for the security man to grab his arm.

Danny waited to be summoned to fill out a report, but the security man just winked. He wasn't going to ruin a father's Disney time. The suspect tripped. That's all there was to it. (He was a Disney security officer, after all. He didn't want to spoil the magic.)

Danny and his daughter continued to their shuttle stop with no more excitement. As they waited for the van to arrive, Danny asked, "Did you have a good time today, Grace?"

"It was perfect!" Grace enthused. "I love Disneyland."

"And the best part was, nothing bad happened," Danny said, thinking of a vacation day with no forms to fill out.

Grace remembered a toddler rescued, a fight prevented and a purse-snatcher stopped. She giggled, but didn't contradict her father.


	11. Princess Fantasy Faire

**Chapter 11**

**Day 4-5, Tuesday-Wednesday – Princess Fantasy Faire**

Back in their hotel room, father and daughter tuned to Kung Fu Panda on the TV and enjoyed more of Po's adventures while they finally ate their chocolate cookies from Sweet Sunday; then Danny borrowed Grace's laptop to upload photos from his camera to the cloud site that Chin Ho had helped him set up. Grace was playing Scrabble on her father's smart phone when it buzzed in her hand.

"Hi, Uncle Chin!" she answered the call.

"Hi, Gracie. Are you having a good time at Disneyland?"

Grace agreed enthusiastically and rattled off some of the rides she went on that day.

"And Danno stopped a fight and stopped a little boy from running into a horse," she said, willfully ignoring the "cut it off" gesture her father made.

"So he's getting into trouble without our help, hmm? May I talk to him, please?"

"OK!" She bounced off the bed and gave the phone to her father. "It's Uncle Chin," she said unnecessarily.

"Thanks, monkey. Hey, it's almost time for the fireworks to start. Maybe you can see them from the window," Danny suggested.

Grace scampered over to the window and leaned against the ledge where she had a slightly obstructed view of the two theme parks.

"Sounds like you don't need Steve to get into trouble," Chin greeted his friend.

"Pssshhh. It was a toddler running away from his mother and a couple of boys shoving each other in line." Danny deliberately did not mention the purse snatcher, because that was decidedly a crime in progress. "You're not still at work, are you?" Danny asked suspiciously.

"No, I'm on a date," Chin answered.

"Whoa, babe, I know it's been awhile, but calling someone else when you're on a date is a bad idea."

Chin chuckled. "Malia went to the ladies room." He scanned the dining room to make sure she wasn't returning yet. "We were talking about you."

"Even worse. Talking about work is the kiss of death, babe. Trust me," Danny said with heavy emphasis.

"We were talking about Disneyland," Chin corrected. "Malia said her favorite Disney movies were the ones with animals — Lion King, 101 Dalmatians and especially Lady and the Tramp. I wondered … do you think you could find me something with that romantic scene from Lady and the Tramp?"

"The spaghetti scene?"

"Yes."

Danny remembered browsing through the Main Street stores next to the Carnation Café. "How expensive are you willing to go, Chin? We saw some watches today, leftover from Valentine's Day, I think. Romantic scenes including that one. I think they were around $200, though."

"That would be perfect. Cute yet practical, just what Malia likes."

"Is that why she likes you?" Danny teased. "Tell you what, I could send you a picture tomorrow. It would be early. We were going to spend most of the day at California Adventure, but there was something I wanted to do at Disneyland first."

"I don't want to put you out, brah."

"Not a problem, Gotta walk right past the shop. Besides, I owe you for walking me through this the cloud site business. Now I know I won't lose my photos, even if I drop my camera into the Rivers of America. And I can send you a photo I took with my camera, not just the ones I take with my phone. Like this." He forwarded Chin the picture of surfers and hula girls in Small World.

"Good work," Chin praised. "I knew you could do it. Hey, I've got to go. Malia's coming back."

Before she could ask who was on the phone, Chin showed his date the photo. "Look what Danny sent."

She admired the photo and laughed at the caption: "Pineapple infested hellhole, Disney style."

As Danny hung up, Grace called him to the window to see the fireworks.

* * *

><p>Wednesday was Daddy's Day, Danny's choice. They were going back to the Food and Wine Festival at California Adventure and then to the baseball game at 7 p.m. But first, Danny surprised Grace by detouring into Disneyland and guiding her to the Princess Fantasy Faire back near Toontown. With their focus on riding rides the day before, Danny hadn't realized this girly section existed until they passed that way going into Toontown.<p>

Grace realized the area was designed to let little girls live out their princess fantasies, meeting Disney characters and buying a little bling. She held back, protesting, "But Danno, this is your day."

Danny kissed the top of her head. "What I want is to spend the day with a princess," the fond dad said.

Grace hugged him and entered the path, posing for photos with Jasmine, Aurora and the Little Mermaid along the way. Because of her fishy tail, Ariel was seated on a shell throne. She made a hit with Danny and Grace. When she found out Grace was from Hawaii, she said, "Oh, that's one of my favorite places to swim. The ocean is so beautiful. I think I've seen you playing in the water."

"Daddy and I are learning to surf," Grace agreed.

"You've probably seen me wiping out," Danny said.

"Maybe I'll say Hi the next time I swim by," Ariel said.

Grace grinned, playing along. "That would be a nice surprise, wouldn't it, daddy."

"Surprise would be a good word for it."

Danny shot several pictures of the two water women smiling at each other, before they had to move on. Ariel waved goodbye and turned to the next child in line.

"She was nice," Grace said.

"They're all nice. They're proper princesses."

As they left the attraction, of course they had to pass through the gift shop.

"Don't you already have a tiara?" Danny asked, even as he pulled out his wallet.

"That's a Cinderella tiara. This is a Little Mermaid tiara," Grace pointed out, indicating the shell design.

Danny shelled out for the tiara, because it looked so cute on her, but drew the line at a wand. "Just one more thing to carry around. And Ariel doesn't have a wand."

They began the trek to the front of Disneyland, pausing at the watch shop where they found the Lady and the Tramp watch still on display. Danny shot a picture with his phone and sent it to Chin.

"I've got a friend who might want me to buy this for him," he explained to the clerk.

* * *

><p>On Oahu, Kono had just arrived to pick up Chin for work when his phone went off. The watch was perfect and the price within reason. Chin sent back a quick, "Yes!"<p>

"Have we got a case?" Kono asked.

"No, Danny sent me a picture," Chin replied. Because he wasn't ready yet to tell Kono he was seeing Malia again, Chin showed Kono the Small World picture that Danny had sent (the night before).

Analyzing photos was part of Kono's job. She immediately realized the photo had been taken with flash, which Danny's phone didn't have.

"He sent it from the cloud site," Chin agreed, proud of his pupil.

"You're a good teacher," Kono said.

"Danny's not as bad with technology as he likes to pretend," Chin answered. "He just gets impatient."

"Word!" agreed Danny's surfing teacher.

* * *

><p>After they bought the watch and stowed it safely in the daypack, Danny consulted his growing collection of Disney folders: maps for Disneyland, California Adventure and Downtown Disney; a showtimes insert for the two parks and a separate guide to the Food and Wine Festival events. (No wonder he needed a daypack!)<p>

Danny saw a cooking demonstration was coming up in about an hour at Paradise Pier. As King for Thursday, he declared this would be a day of nibbling at the Food and Wine Festival. But they actually started at Disneyland's Blue Ribbon Bakery (one door up from the watch shop with the Carnation Cafe squeezed in between). Waving at Chef Oscar as they passed, they shared a chocolate croissant and an apple while they trekked out Disneyland's front gate and across the plaza to California Adventure.

* * *

><p><em>Better make sure you had lunch before you read Chapter 12. We're going to the food festival!<em>


	12. Food and Wine Festival

_seemed appropriate to post this now when I'm eating a malasada in Honolulu. _

**Chapter 12**

**Day 5, Wednesday – Food and Wine Festival**

Inside DCA, they headed straight for Paradise Pier, making a slight detour to get another Fast Pass for Soarin'.

They got in line for the free cooking demo. After a 15-minute wait, they moved into the program area, taking seats at long tables beneath a blue awning. Each place was set with a small bottle of Dasani water, a piece of Disney notepaper and a small golfing pencil, and a copy of the recipe to be demonstrated. A chef from Cafe Orleans in New Orleans Square gave an amusing presentation about making crepes and working for Disneyland, then showed how to make crepes Suzette. Everyone got a taste of the recipe — a sample, not a full serving in this free presentation.

Danny thought it was tasty and took the recipe with him (another sheet of paper in his daypack) but doubted he'd ever make the flaming dessert in his tiny kitchenette.

"I'd set the place on fire," he told Grace.

She nodded understanding. "But I bet Uncle Steve would enjoy that."

Danny wondered if he'd complained too often about his partner's penchant for guns and explosives. Nah, he decided, he hadn't told Grace the half of it.

In the mood for a quiet day, Danny planned out shows to see and peaceful rides. They started with King Triton's Carousel, since they were at Paradise Pier. Youngsters rode on colorful sea creatures, smiling dolphins, happy fish and grinning sea otters. Grace picked out a blue dolphin and Danny claimed a purple sea horse that reminded him of old Aquaman cartoons. Next they used their Fast Passes at Soarin' — just as good the second time — then went to MuppetVision 3D in the Backlot. On the way in Danny posed by a silly sign that read "Warning: Contents Under Pressure." He swore he was going to post that on his office door back at Five-0. After laughing at the Muppet antics, they got another snack at a fast food place next to where the Sweet Sunday program had been held. Black forest ham with melon, ahi tuna with a mild wasabi sauce and chocolate-drizzled profiteroles weren't exactly traditional fast food, however. They were food fest fast food.

Next on Danny's schedule was the Aladdin show at the Hyperion Theater. Danny and Grace joined the throng entering the theater. Next to them they heard a young woman say, "C'mon, cuz, they're the best seats in the house. Trust me."

Maybe it was her use of the word "cuz," but Danny and Grace exchanged a glance, then pursued the woman and her cousin around the back of the theater and down the aisle to a row just behind the cross aisle. As the women moved into the row, Danny and Grace slipped into seats beside them.

"Are you sure these are good seats? Wouldn't it be better closer to the stage?" the cousin asked, with curiosity not complaint.

"Oh, I'm sure," the woman said with assurance. "I've sat in a couple of places and I think this is the best. See, you can see the stage and the aisle across here and you're not under the balcony, so you can see the ceiling."

"The ceiling?" the cousin sounded puzzled.

"You'll see," the woman said smugly.

Turning away from his eavesdropping, Danny studied the Hyperion. It looked like a beautiful, old classic theater with gilt and velvet. The seats were cushy and the air conditioning was just right.

As the show began, the narrator invited the audience to join him in "a land of mystery and enchantment and no flash photography or video recording."

Danny had taken Grace to see Beauty and the Beast on Broadway, so he'd seen Disney turn a 90-minute movie into a three-hour stage musical. This show was the reverse, a 90-minute movie condensed into a 45-minute stage show, despite an extra song for Jasmine about being a bird in a gilded cage.

Grace was disappointed that they left out Abu.

"Sorry monkey, no monkey," Danny consoled his daughter.

When Aladdin met the Genie, they got the rousing "You Ain't Never Had a Friend Like Me!" complete with a dozen dancing Genie's and flashing neon lights. Aladdin and Jasmine were fine singers, the Carpet was adorable, the puppet parrot was a sarcastic sidekick for the evil Jafar, but the Genie stole the show with adlibs and topical comedy lines. Listing the three genie rules for Aladdin, he said, "I can't bring anyone back from the dead! But if you have an iPhone, there's an app for that." Bringing Prince Ali into Agrabah, he told the Sultan, "Prince Ali, over 10,000 followers on Twitter." And when Aladdin said he couldn't keep up the prince role because he was just a street rat, the Genie answered, "Street rat? You're name is on the marquee out front!"

But every time the Genie stole the show with his one-liners, the special effects stole them back. Prince Ali rode into the city on a (mechanical) elephant with attendants riding hobby horses all passing along the cross aisle right in front of "the best seats in the house." Aladdin blew a kiss right at little Grace and one of the horses dipped his head just long enough for her to touch his nose.

And during "Whole New World," Aladdin and Jasmine flew above the audience on their magic carpet ride.

"You've got to be able to see the ceiling," the woman whispered to her cousin.

Finally, Aladdin trapped Jafar in the lamp and the Genie gave it a shake. "My impression of an earthquake. How's that for a California adventure!"

The audience called for three encores before the cast finally bowed off the stage.

* * *

><p>With the music from Aladdin still humming in their ears, Danny and Grace went to the Animation attraction where they played with the interactive exhibits and chatted with Crush, the turtle from Finding Nemo. (Like Ariel, he was delighted to find out Grace was from Hawaii. "Gnarly current there, dudette!" he said.)<p>

Danny left Grace to study maps and the food fest program, while he ventured another $10 on a Beers of the World tasting. He was much happier with the Beers of Europe and was unable to choose a favorite between a malty, hoppy Belgian brew and a pale lager from Estonia, of all places.

Meanwhile, Grace had found an upcoming food demonstration she wanted to see, mostly to tease her father. Mellowed by samples of four different but tasty beers, Danny followed Grace's lead to the main showcase stage in Sunshine Plaza.

He struck up a conversation with a man in line who wore a Yankees T-shirt. Debating the possibilities of that night's game, Danny didn't pay a lot of attention to the topic of the program until after he and Grace had taken a seat. Only then did a cast member carry out a sign with a prominent "Dole" logo.

"Dole!" Danny said aghast. "Monkey! Not pineapple!"

Grace giggled. "I like pineapple. You used to like pineapple."

"Pineapple's OK in its place," Danny admitted. "It's just that they put it on everything in Hawaii. Pizza. Hamburgers. Hotdogs!"

"Maybe we can learn a good recipe and surprise Uncle Steve."

"Me cooking pineapple. That would surprise him!"

Grace remembered that Danny was king today. "We don't have to stay," she said. "If you really don't want to."

Danny hugged her. "No, let's see what they fix. Maybe it won't be pineapple. Dole does have other fruit."

But no, it had to be pineapple. Pineapple Glazed Pork Chops and Pineapple Spiced Scones, to be specific. And even Danny admitted the samples tasted good.

"That's enough Disney for today, monkey. It's time to get ready for the baseball game," Danny said. They had a couple of hours to wash up, rest and drive the few blocks to Angel Stadium.

While they walked to the shuttle stop, Grace asked her father why he stopped liking pineapple.

"It was when I was still with HPD," Danny said. "We were pursuing a suspect. The guys sent me to cut him off by crossing a pineapple field. They thought it was a good joke on the haole. Those spiky leaves cut up my pants and my legs."

"I remember!" Grace said. "You had bandages all around your legs."

"Yes, they were just scratches, really, but there were a lot of them."

"Did you catch the bad guy?" Grace asked.

Danny looked mock offended. "Who are you talking to?"

"Of course, you caught him," Grace answered with a smile.

"I did. They didn't laugh so hard then. And when Meka found out about it, he volunteered to be my partner to show me the ropes and the pitfalls. But the other detectives kept leaving pineapples on my desk."

"So pineapples meant people were being mean." Grace understood that teasing could hurt.

"That's about it."

"Then you've got to fight back, Danno," Grace said firmly. "Bite those mean pineapples and eat them up!"

"Thank you, Dr. Grace. I'll try to remember that," Danny laughed.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Dole really did do demos at the food fest one year, but I didn't go to one of theirs. I did go to the crepes program, however. These are real Dole recipes found at their website.  
>All the Genie's jokes are actually from one show I saw, but it's never the same twice.<em>


	13. Angels, I mean, Yankees Baseball Game

**Chapter 13**

**Day 5, Wednesday – Angels, I mean Yankees, baseball game**

Feeling the heat, King Danny decreed that they should take a break from Disney and go swimming at the hotel before changing to go to the ballpark. Soon they were plunging from the diving board and taking turns at the curving slide.

They pretty much had the deep end of the pool to themselves, though two moms and their youngsters were cooling off in the shallow end, splashing and paddling in inflatable pool toys.

Two little girls, neither older than kindergarten age, began a game of tag that progressed up the pool steps and onto the deck. Squealing and giggling, one tyke fled around the pool still wearing an inflatable ring around her waist.

"Girls! No running!" their mother called in a strong Oklahoma accent.

With his heightened trouble awareness, Danny saw it coming and shook his head in disbelief. How had this become the theme of his vacation?

As the first girl dodged her sister's touch, her plastic ring bumped the edge of a table and bounced her into the deep end. Losing her grip in surprise, she dropped straight down to the bottom, while the colorful ring floated above her. Her mother and sister shrieked in fear. Danny saw two wide eyes looking up from beneath the water.

"I've got her," he called in reassurance and resignation. He dropped feet first into the pool, plunging like a spear straight to the bottom. He clasped the girl around the waist and pushed off from the bottom, rocketing to the surface in an instant. Fastest rescue ever.

The girl coughed once, then began to wail, purely from the shock of it. Danny rolled on his back and stroked with one hand to the shallow end, towing the youngster into her mother's outstretched arms.

"Thank you. Thank you!" she exclaimed. She checked her daughter for injuries, hugged her fiercely, and then began to berate her and her sister for not listening in the first place. She collected the two chastened girls, thanked Danny again and gathered their things to go back to their room.

"Don't be too hard on them," Danny offered, as he floated lazily in the pool. "I don't think they'll do it again."

The two girls shook their heads emphatically. The elder crossed her heart.

"All right," the mother agreed, as her fright faded. "But this summer we're all taking swimming lessons!"

After they left, Danny saw Grace putting the camera back on the table with their towels.

"What were you taking pictures for?" he asked.

"Evidence," the girl said pertly.

"Evidence I can swim or evidence I'm trouble magnetized?"

"Evidence that you're my hero!" Grace said, and leaped from the edge of the pool into his arms.

— H50 —

Danny debated taking his gun to the game. He'd brought it with him because, well, he was a cop, but he'd ended up leaving it in the hotel room safe the whole time. Despite the crazy things that had been happening, he felt creepy taking a gun onto Disney property. Stadiums, on the other hand, were places where people who had drunk too much beer got worked up and argued and fought. Stadiums could be dangerous. But he hadn't registered his presence as a police officer with the Anaheim PD or with the stadium. He just didn't want to go through the hassle with security, so he left the gun in the safe again and wondered why he'd even brought it to California.

Thanks to Mary, Danny knew the way to Angel Stadium. He parked and carefully noted the location of the car, then he and Grace went to the "will call" window. He could have printed out a ticket at work, but he preferred to have a real, traditional ticket he could keep as a souvenir (or rip up in a fit of temper if his team lost).

Grace posed for a picture in front of the giant baseball caps that flanked the entrance.

Danny shook his head. It wasn't Yankee Stadium, but Yankee Stadium wasn't Yankee Stadium any more. At least, Yankee Stadium wasn't the House that Ruth Built any more.

Inside, Danny breathed in the atmosphere — the smell of food, the murmur of excited fans. There was a lot of Angels red, but plenty of Yankee pinstripes, too. Danny and Grace did not look out of place in their Yankee shirts and caps.

Danny rolled his eyes at a Chinese food concession. At a ballpark, really? Then again, he'd seen sushi at the new Yankee Stadium. Definitely not the House That Ruth Built. A hotdog and a beer would be good enough for Danny, the traditionalist, and Grace could get her nachos.

First Danny wanted to find their seats, so he didn't have to carry the food far. While he compared tickets to aisle numbers, Grace was studying the souvenir stands. She gasped in delight.

"Daddy, look! Can I get one?"

Danny looked appalled. "But it's wearing an Angels uniform," he protested.

"But it's a monkey!"

There was a whole display of Angels' rally monkeys in a variety of colors, long limbs tipped with Velcro so they could hang anywhere. Grace pointed to one with light brown fur and a blond face with cute chin whiskers and a lopsided smile. But it wore an Angels' jersey and a blue cap with a big red A.

"I can't do it, monkey." Danny shook his head. "Generations of Williams men would come back to haunt me."

The girl thought for a moment. "OK, I'll use my own money."

"You sure you don't want to save that for a Disney souvenir?" Danny asked.

Grace just smiled. Danny knew she figured she could talk him into buying any Disney souvenir she wanted. (And she was probably right.)

"Do you have enough cash?" He knew she had just shy of $20 in the wallet/purse that she wore on a cord around her neck.

"It's OK, mommy gave me $50 to spend on whatever I want," Grace reassured him.

He was not reassured to think she was carrying around so much money! "Fifty dollars!"

"See?" she showed him a card bearing the word "Visa." This almost gave him a second heart attack thinking Rachel had given their 8-year-old daughter a credit card. Turned out it was a Visa gift card, good anywhere the credit card was accepted, but loaded with only $50 in credit.

Maybe this was Rachel's way of contributing to Grace's vacation without jabbing her ex-husband's pride.

"I'd like that monkey, please," Grace told the attendant, pointing to the Angelic beast she wanted. "And a program, please." She reminded her father, "So we can keep score for my homework."

"I'll split the cost of the program with you," Danny said.

"Just buy me nachos and we'll call it even," Grace offered, making Danny smile at her grownup attitude.

"Deal."

Father and daughter finally arrived at their seats with souvenirs, hotdogs, nachos, a Coke and a beer. They ate and kept score, cheered mightily for their team, exchanged light-hearted insults with the Angels fans around them and celebrated when the Yanks' reliever held off a ninth-inning rally to win the game. (When the Angels put two men on in the ninth with their power hitter coming up to bat, the home fans waved their rally monkeys in the air. Danny covered the face of Grace's monkey with his Yankees cap and that, of course, made all the difference in killing the rally.)

As they walked through the parking lot, Danny spoke animatedly about his favorite plays, wielding the rolled up program as if it was a baseball bat.

Though sleepy because it was after 10 p.m., Grace was glad to see her father smiling and relaxed. She knew he was unhappy a lot since the divorce, though he tried to hide it from her. She was glad to see him enjoying himself on his special Daddy Day.

She echoed his question from the night before, "Did you have a good time today, Daddy?"

"Yes, monkey, I did." He scooped her up and kissed her cheek, then kissed the rally monkey's cheek, too. "Both you monkeys."

Grinning and relaxed, he set Grace down. Of course, that's when he heard the scream.

**To be continued**

**I know. Not as long a visit to the ballgame as to Disneyland, but I've spent a lot more time at Disney parks than at Angel Stadium. **

**The business with the kid and the inflatable pool ring actually happened to my little sister when she was a tyke.**


	14. After the Baseball Game

_This Californian is back from my vacation in Hawaii. Terrible weather but I saw Danny and Chin. (OK, I saw Scott and Daniel, but they were filming a scene, so they were Danny and Chin at the moment.) Look for them talking to people at Mana Kai Catamarans in episode 2.20 due to air April 9. See my bio page for a photo I took. _

_On another note, writing is going slow because I have carpal tunnel syndrome and I need to rest from typing too much. Still have lots of ideas, however. I'll just have to do a little at a time._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14<strong>

**Day 5, Wednesday – After the baseball game**

Danny automatically jogged in the direction of the muffled scream. Realizing his daughter was right beside him, he slowed just as they came into view of the altercation. A family in Angel's gear was menaced by three burly Yankees' fans. An older man whose face had gone as white as his hair clung to his wife's arm while his grown son put his arm protectively around a young woman's shoulders.

Two of the attackers flaunted long-bladed hunting knives. The third man's hands were empty, but Danny noted a suspicious bulge in the back of his shirt just at his waistband.

One knifeman was spouting angry words at the family in accents that reminded Danny of home. Damned if the loudmouth wasn't Jersey born.

"Stay here, Grace. Stay down behind the car," Danny ordered.

Concentrating, Danny broadened the accent he'd almost lost during his time in Hawaii, then strode forward, happily gesturing with the program in his hand.

"Hey, paisan! Why so angry? We won!"

The leader gave him a scornful look.

"Stay out of this, shorty," he ordered. "These guys have been running their mouths all night."

"Us?" the young man yelped, unable to contain himself, then shut up again when the knife waved in his direction.

"But mouthing off is half the fun," Danny protested, edging between the attackers and their victims.

Knife leader gestured to the other knife wielder, "Get rid of him."

The man moved toward the detective. Danny turned his "what the heck" gesture, into an attack. He threw the program into knifeman Number 2s face. The fluttering missile was just enough distraction to let Danny close with the boss man. Danny grabbed the knife wrist with his left hand and planted his right fist in the man's jaw. Two quick jabs to the jaw and two more to the gut, which sent beery fumes into the detective's face. Despite the gas attack, Danny twisted the knife free and sent it spinning under a nearby car, then yanked the leader forward, so the man crashed head first into the side of an SUV and dropped to the ground in a daze.

As Danny turned he caught a glimpse of the menaced family. The young woman was — sensibly — running toward the stadium calling for police. The older woman dug frantically through her handbag and pulled out a pill bottle while her son supported his white-faced, gasping father. The younger man kept his eyes on Danny's battle, one fist clenched as if he wished he could participate.

Danny was a willing substitute. Willing and able.

Knifeman 2 recovered from the program attack and drove forward, slashing a line of fire on Danny's forearm. The detective dodged, but otherwise ignored him, focusing his attention on the third man, who was pulling a gun from that suspicious bulge at his back.

Danny Williams did not have the combat training of SuperSEAL McGarrett or the martial arts skills of Kono Kalakaua, but the height-challenged detective was an expert in down and dirty street fighting. He stepped in close to the gunman before he could bring his pistol to bear and slammed his knee up into the man's groin. Danny took the gun from the attacker's nerveless hand and slammed the gun butt against the side of the attacker's head. As the gunman sagged, Danny shoved him at the remaining knifeman, then spun to cover all three attackers. (Though two were paying little attention to the proceedings.)

"Freeze, police!" Danny barked.

His words were echoed by dark-uniformed shapes approaching out of the parking lot shadows. "Freeze, police!"

"Drop the gun!" one of the Anaheim PD officers ordered.

Danny pointed the gun at the sky and spread his fingers away from the trigger. "Easy, boys, I'm an off-duty police officer."

"Don't hurt him," the older woman shouted. "He saved us."

* * *

><p>Two officers coming up behind the action saw the little girl crouched behind a car. One officer holstered her weapon and quietly asked the girl if she was OK.<p>

"Don't hurt my Daddy," Grace said fearfully, pointing at the blond man who was setting his weapon on the ground. "He's a good guy."

Danny used two fingers to pull his badge out of the inside pocket his mother had sewn in his jersey. At least he hadn't lost his badge in this fracas.* He flipped the folder open to show his badge, then offered his ID to the officers.

The woman officer, MJ Pratt, saw the victimized family volubly and emphatically confirming Danny's story and pointing angrily at the other three men. The Anaheim officers gestured Danny to stand by the family and handcuffed the other three, hustling them away in patrol cars while calling for paramedic assistance for the older man. He was now sitting on the ground while his wife put a pill between his lips.

"He going to be OK?" Danny asked.

"He has angina," the young man said. "Once he gets his nitro pill, he should be OK." In fact, the color had already started to come back to the father's face.

"I think it's safe now," MJ told Grace.

"Danno!"

"Grace." Danny reached for his daughter, then winced and pulled his arm back. He grabbed his forearm as Grace grabbed around his waist.

"Danno! Are you hurt?" Grace gently touched his arm and found a slit in his jacket sleeve as long as her hand. "Daddy?" she said uncertainly, tears of sympathy and anxiety in her eyes.

"It's OK, baby," Danny reassured her. He pulled off his jacket and displayed his arm. Blood seeped from a long red line.

"See. It's just a scratch. Grandma's cat Tiger has scratched me worse."

Grace giggled. Tiger was a surly tom who was gentle with females but hated men.

"Here, let me look at that," one of the paramedics said, while his partner was taking the pulse of the older man.

"Clean it good," Danny instructed. "This kind never cleans their knives."

The paramedic cleaned it so well, it burned worse than when Danny had been cut; but then the paramedic spread on an antibiotic ointment that soothed the pain. He was wrapping the arm with gauze when MJ approached.

"The lieutenant would like to see you."

Danny urged his heavy-lidded daughter to her feet. "Come on, monkey, I think we're going to get another ride in a police car."

Grace was too tired to be excited. Though they hadn't tried, the Williamses had adjusted to Pacific Time. It felt like 11 p.m. even though it was only 8 p.m. back home.

"You can take a nap while Daddy does his paperwork," Danny said.

The detective saw an officer collect his fallen program.

"Hey! You really need to take that? We need the scorecard!"

"It's evidence," said Lieutenant James Randolph, a tall black man with a big square head and a muscular body.

Danny wished he hadn't thrown the program. "I'm sorry, Grace," he said sarcastically. "You'll have to tell your teacher the police confiscated your homework."

Randolph invited Danny politely into the back seat of his police car and took the wheel himself.

Grace was asleep when the police car pulled up at the station. When Danny winced as he lifted her out, Randolph offered to carry her in.

"You've got to give that cut a chance to heal," he advised. "I've got a girl this age," he said with such a fond smile that Danny permitted the stranger to touch his precious daughter.

In the lieutenant's office, they arranged the girl on a couch, her head pillowed on her plushy rally monkey.

Randolph studied Danny's badge under his desk lamp.

"I've never heard of Five-0," he said frankly. "I need to confirm your ID."

"I can get the governor of Hawaii on speed dial," Danny offered, smiling when he remembered Steve doing it.

"That wouldn't help. I wouldn't know his voice if I heard it."

"Apparently not," Danny agreed, ruthlessly suppressing the sarcasm that wanted to leak out.

Randolph must have heard something odd, however, because he cocked his head at Danny in a wordless question.

MJ, who had brought a blanket for Grace, coughed lightly. "I believe Hawaii has a woman governor," she said politely.

Randolph frowned to be caught ignorant, then shrugged.

Danny could have given Randolph Steve's phone number, but that wouldn't prove he was who he said he was. Randolph needed to go through official channels. "It's after 8 in Hawaii. No one will be in the Five-0 office. Why don't you call Honolulu PD? They can transfer you to Commander McGarrett's cell," Danny suggested.

Randolph looked up the HPD number, identified himself and asked to be transferred to the head of Five-0.

"Anaheim? Has something happened to Detective Williams or his daughter?" Sgt. Duke Lukela asked with quick concern.

"They're fine," Randolph reassured the sergeant. Danny crossed his arms in triumph. "There was an incident after the Angels game. I just need to confirm Williams' identity."

"May I speak to him?"

Randolph passed the phone to Danny.

"Duke? Yeah, we're fine. Some jerks were hassling a family outside the stadium and I stepped in. Transfer me to Steve, would you? So I can prove I didn't get my badge out of a Crackerjack box. Oh! And Grace picked out a Minnie Mouse doll for your granddaughter. Frilly pink dress. She'll love it. No problem, brah, thanks!"

Danny handed the phone back to Randolph. "He's transferring the call to my boss now."

Randolph would have accepted Lukela's ID, but now he was curious.

Sitting on his lanai watching the stars come out, Steve answered the call from "HPD." He sat up in sudden alarm when he heard "Anaheim."

"Are Danny and Grace OK?"

"They're fine," Randolph said hastily. "They're here in my office."

By now Randolph felt comfortable enough with Danny's ID to tease the detective, one officer to another.

"There was an incident after the Angels game," he told Steve. "I wanted to confirm Detective Williams' identity since he was found brandishing a weapon …"

"Brandishing!" Steve clearly heard his partner's indignant voice in the background. "I took it off a perp."

"… and reeking of beer," Randolph continued unperturbed.

"Reeking! That was one beer four hours ago!"

Steve was relieved to hear Danny vigorously defending himself. The tone of Randolph's voice sounded amused not hostile, but Steve decided to err on the side of caution. If some joke of his got Danny detained for even an hour, the Jerseyan would never forgive him. And would say so at the top of his lungs.

"I'm sure if Detective Williams was holding a weapon, there was a good reason," Steve said formally. "He's a good cop. The best I know."

"I believe you, commander. He took down three armed suspects single-handed and only got a scratch."

Danny was waving his hands frantically.

"Scratch?" Steve demanded in instant concern.

Danny palmed his face. "Gimme," he demanded the phone. "I'm fine, Mom," he told his partner. "It's really, literally, just a scratch."

Steve relaxed. "At least it's not my fault this time."

Danny couldn't explain about being trouble magnetized, not over the phone, not in the lieutenant's office, so he didn't answer. He told Steve he had to fill out a report and said goodbye.

Danny entered his statement in the computer with the ease of familiarity.

The lieutenant himself offered to drive Danny and still sleeping Grace back to their car.

As they left, Randolph said, "I can't give you back the program, but maybe this will help with the homework." He handed Danny a photocopy of the scorecard.

"Thanks," Danny said gratefully. "We can look up the box score, but teachers like to see the work in your own handwriting."

"Let's get you back," Randolph said. "I still have to collate all these statements into an incident report. This is my last night before I go back on days and I was hoping for a quiet shift."

"At least you don't have corpses," Danny pointed out.

"True. Thanks for that."

"Just doing my job." Danny rolled his eyes. "Even though I'm on vacation."

Randolph drove through the empty parking lot where Danny's rental car sat in lonely splendor.

"Guess I didn't need the 'remember where you parked' app after all."

* * *

><p><em>*See my story, The Fight in the Dog<em>


	15. Downtown Disney

**Chapter 15**

**Day 6, Thursday – Downtown Disney**

Despite the late night, the Williamses returned to Disneyland bright and early. This time they went left off Main Street and hit Adventureland and Frontierland. They stood in a lengthy line for the Indiana Jones ride. Danny didn't like it much. It bounced along painfully like a jeep on a rutted road. But the effects were cool. It really looked like Indy himself came to their rescue.

Then they hit Pirates again and passed the Haunted Mansion to take on the long plume ride Splash Mountain. Danny got splashed, not during the big drop at the end, but simply going around a curve. His leg was wet from knee to foot.

"Good thing it's warm today. I hope it dries fast," he said. It wasn't very comfortable with his pants leg plastered to his shin.

Passing into Frontierland, they boarded the Mark Twain Riverboat and took a peaceful cruise around the Rivers of America. Grace most liked the ducks and coots paddling in the water.

After a peaceful cruise, they jumped on the wild train ride, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

They went the back way past Big Thunder Ranch to catch the rides they'd missed in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. Grace insisted on riding the carousel again, so she could say "Hi" to Jingles now that she knew his name.

In Tomorrowland, Grace took the wheel of a car on the Autopia and impressed her father with her driving skills.

"You drive better than Uncle Steve," Danny told her.

Then they took a full circle ride on the Monorail and learned that the most scenic part of the ride is the second half, going back into Disneyland.

* * *

><p>After a full day at Disneyland doing just about everything they hadn't done before, Danny and Grace set out for an early dinner at Goofy's Kitchen in the historic Disneyland Hotel. They wanted to hit the restaurant when it first opened, but they left themselves plenty of time to look around as they strolled through Downtown Disney.<p>

To catch their hotel shuttle, they had gone to the left coming out of Disneyland, but Downtown Disney and the hotels were in the opposite direction. The Williamses went out through the security checkpoint and paused to admire this new scene.

Signs pointed to the trams for the Mickey and Friends parking structure. The long trains of red and white cars were just visible through a screen of shrubbery to their right.

To the left was the World of Disney, decorated in bright colors with Disney characters smiling down at them. Dead ahead was a brightly colored fountain that burbled innocently; then the center fountain suddenly shot high into the air, water splashing down and spraying kids who squealed gleefully and scampered out of range.

Grace towed her father into the World of Disney, a huge store with everything from clothing to toys, from watches to housewares.

As they shopped, Danny overhead a woman complain about how expensive everything was at Disneyland. He blinked in surprise.

I've been in overpriced Hawaii too long, he thought with dismay. The inflated Disneyland prices seemed normal to him.

Danny finally found the perfect gift for Steve. For the man who knows all about incendiaries, he bought a Mickey Mouse barbecue apron and spatula, then he couldn't resist adding the multicolored pasta shaped like little Mickey faces.

Grace collected a set of hot cocoa flavors in Disney canisters and insisted on buying her dad a mug with her own money. It showed one of the Seven Dwarfs scowling and the saying "Everyone's Grumpy in the morning."

Finally escaping from the store laden with bags, they continued along Downtown Disney, passing stores and restaurants. Grace paused at the glassblower's shop for a long time, admiring a glass Cinderella's castle with coach and horses out front. A full foot long and almost as tall, it was beautiful with the sun slanting through it, but so fragile. And expensive.

"Can you imagine trying to take that home on the plane," Danny said.

"I wouldn't want to carry it back to the hotel," Grace admitted.

Danny took a photo to remember it by, then they crossed the road to the pin hut. The enamel-on-metal collector's pins had started as lapel pins, but most had outgrown that use. They were more broach size these days, or larger. Danny studied the 4-inch high, 5-inch wide, pin of Sleeping Beauty's Castle with enameled fireworks behind it and wondered what the heck you could pin it to.

"Super SEAL could use that as a deadly weapon," he told his giggling daughter.

"Look at this one, Daddy," Grace insisted. "It's perfect for Kono."

And it was. It showed Minnie Mouse surfing a wave with a dolphin leaping beside her and a rainbow in the background. Danny bought two, one for his surfing crazy coworker and one for his dolphin crazy daughter.

"Now we'd better hurry or we'll be late," Danny said.

They walked purposefully past the Mickey Sorcerer's hat and into the Disneyland Hotel, continuing straight ahead — as per their native' guide's directions — until they reached a set of glass doors. They entered and, as promised, there was Goofy's Kitchen on the left. Because they were early, they only had a short wait to be seated. The buffet was extensive, full of temptations for children and adults — salads, pizza, chicken, fish, hotdogs — so many choices.

Periodically an assortment of Disney characters paraded through, interacting with the kids and posing for pictures. Grace hugged Tigger and correctly identified chipmunks Chip and Dale. (Dale has the red nose.) An obliging waiter took a photo of Grace and Danny with Chef Goofy himself.

Danny ate lightly to leave room for the bite-sized desserts, then set a bad example for his daughter by taking one of each, and going back for seconds on the fruit/custard tart and the chocolate cake. Grace laughed at him as she piled up a do-it-yourself sundae with hot fudge and caramel sauce and three kinds of sprinkles. They each regarded the other's pile of dessert.

"I won't tell Mommy if you don't," Grace offered.

"Deal," Danny agreed.

Stuffed full, maybe overfull, they strolled back toward the park entrance.

"Do you want to go back to Disneyland?" Danny asked. "Or should we go back to the hotel for awhile."

"I don't think I want to ride any roller coasters," Grace said, rubbing her tummy.

"OK, we'll go back to the hotel. Make an early night of it, so we'll be nice and fresh for an all out assault on our last day."

"Now you sound like Uncle Steve," Grace said, causing her father to make the aneurism face.

* * *

><p>To get to the hotel shuttle stop, they had to go through security and cross the plaza between Disneyland and California Adventure. They sauntered toward the bag check station. Beyond the planters on their left, Danny saw a tram pull to a stop and discharge passengers.<p>

A horde of people piled off the tram cars and swarmed the security area. Danny slowed his pace to let some of the crowd clear. The flow of the crowd was toward Disneyland with a counterflow of shoppers and diners heading for Downtown Disney. An anomaly caught the detective's eye.

Leaving the tram stop, a young man with a backpack hesitated when he saw the security checkpoint. He took off his bag, set it carefully next to a concrete bench, rummaged inside it for a moment and then walked away briskly toward Downtown Disney — toward Danny and Grace.

Danny's eyes narrowed in suspicion. He pulled Grace to a stop and dropped the shopping bags at her feet. "Hey, buddy, you forgot your bag!" Danny shouted in his aggressive cop manner, pointing at the abandoned backpack.

Alarmed, the man shied away from Danny and ran back the way he'd come, accidentally catching his bag with his toe. The backpack toppled over and a bomb tumbled out. Sticks of dynamite wired to a digital clock — everyone over the age of five could tell it was a bomb. Vacationers screamed and scattered, clutching their children.

"Grace, get back," Danny ordered, sweeping his arm toward the World of Disney entrance. "Stop, police!" he bellowed, running after the bomber.

The suspect was caught between Danny and the security screeners, he sprinted left, heading around the tram stop and ran headlong into a brick wall. Well, the muscular arm must have felt like a brick wall. A powerfully built young black man wearing a Disney T-shirt and a U.S, Army cap stepped between his son's stroller and the bomber and planted his fist in the running man's face. The bomber fell backwards, cracked his head on the pavement and lost all interest in the proceedings.

When Danny ran up, the soldier was kneeling beside the unconscious suspect.

"I think I hit him too hard," the soldier said regretfully.

"Damn! Now he can't tell us about the bomb," Danny said as he ran his hand through his hair. "I don't suppose you know anything about bombs?"

"Sorry, man, I repair helicopters. Sgt. Jake Todd," he introduced himself.

"Detective Danny Williams. Hawaii state police," Danny said. (Nobody outside Hawaii knew Five-0.)

"What's going on?" demanded a woman in a security uniform. She was black and matronly, with a wary look in her eyes and a sensible demeanor.

Danny quickly explained what he'd seen. They could all see the big red numbers on the timer ticking down from 9:00.

The woman, Margot according to her nametag, called in the news about the bomb. "This is not a drill," she said with authority. "Close the gates to the parks. Don't let anyone out. Stop the trams. We need to clear the area around World of Disney. Notify Anaheim PD. I repeat, this is not a drill!"

Disney personnel descended on the area, chivvying patrons away. Two Anaheim police officers dragged the bombing suspect to safe confinement, while another remained close by coordinating with the bomb squad.

"You'd better go," Margot told Sgt. Todd and Danny.

Todd agreed and started for his wife and toddler, but Danny shook his head. "I'd better wait until Anaheim PD gets here."

Just then Margot got a call. "The bomb squad is 10 minutes out," she reported grimly. The timer was ticking down toward 7:00.

"Sergeant, will you take my daughter to safety?" Danny pleaded.

"Of course," the man answered gently.

Danny ran to Grace who was lurking just inside the World of Disney entrance. "Grace, I want you to go with Sgt. Todd and his family. Take them to Goofy's Kitchen, so I know where to find you. OK?"

"OK," Grace said, her voice tight with firmly repressed tears. "Love you, Danno."

"Love you more," Danny answered, giving her a hug. "Now scoot!"

The black couple moved off as fast as they could push a stroller. The sergeant scooped up the Williams' shopping bags and Grace led the way to Goofy's Kitchen, as far from the bomb as they could get without leaving the resort entirely.

Relieved his daughter was safe, Danny returned to Margot and the bomb, now ticking down from 6:25. Danny's human instincts said run as fast and as far as possible, but his cop instincts said he couldn't run away from this dangerous situation, even though he didn't know anything about bombs!

But he knew someone who did.

Danny punched 2 on his speed dial.


	16. A Bomb at Downtown Disney

_A/N: Remember, this is May 2011. Jameson is still governor._

**Recap:** Danny's human instincts said run as fast and as far as possible, but his cop instincts said he couldn't run away from this dangerous situation, even though he didn't know anything about bombs!

But he knew someone who did.

Danny punched 2 on his speed dial.

**Chapter 16**

**Day 6, Thursday – A Bomb at Downtown Disney**

Steve McGarrett stood in the background as Governor Jameson addressed a press conference about a captured serial killer. When his phone rang, he answered quietly, "Not the best time, partner."

"Steve, I've got a bomb here!" Danny said desperately.

"A bomb? At Disneyland?" Forgetting where he was, Steve's voice rose, attracting attention from the governor and the press. A babble of questions drowned out Danny's words.

"Shut up!" Steve yelled in his Navy commander voice.

The governor made a slashing gesture across her throat, silencing the crowd. Everyone strained his or her ears to catch Steve's words.

Danny explained quickly. "The bomb squad isn't going to get here in time," Danny said. "Is there anything I can do?"

"I need to see it, Danny," Steve said calmly. "Send me a picture, or better a movie, showing all the angles."

Danny made a quick video of the bomb then sent it to Steve.

The timer passed 5:00, heading toward zero.

"It looks pretty basic," Steve said. "I think it's safe to move it."

"The bomber kicked it over and it didn't go off," Danny said.

"Then douse it, partner. Get it wet," Steve said urgently.

"Wet?" Danny looked over at the fountain, still burbling away happily.

The detective picked up the parcel at arm's length (as if that would do any good!, his mind scoffed) and walked quickly but gently to the fountain. He set it inside where the water washed over the timer, now passing 3:00. Then the water receded and Danny realized the fountain was about to shoot up high. The water would hit hard and what would that do to the bomb.

"Take cover!" he shouted and ran for the shelter of a solid concrete ticket booth. Margot and the police officer followed at his heels. They covered their heads and ears.

The jet of liquid shot high in the air and water pounded down on the ticking time bomb.

* * *

><p>The focus of all eyes in Hawaii, Steve stood with his phone pressed to his ear and eyes on his watch. The seconds ticked past until Steve was sure the bomb would have gone off. The phone was still live. Hopefully Danny was, too. But there was no sound from the phone.<p>

"Dammit, Danny, are you dead or not?" Steve demanded. He knew it was ridiculous as soon as he said it, but no one laughed, not even a nervous giggle. The reporters held their breath.

"Not," came the reply in Steve's ear. Seated on the pavement with his back to the ticket booth, Danny shared a relieved grin with Margot and the cop. "And no one's more surprised than I am."

The tension dropped out of Steve's body so rapidly he staggered and had to clutch Chin's shoulder.

"He's OK," Steve said.

Noise erupted around him. The more exuberant reporters cheered; the more professional began shouting questions. Steve's fierce gesture quieted them again.

"What the hell?" Danny asked. "Are you at a football game?"

"No, those cheers are for you, partner." Steve quickly explained. "I'm afraid your antics are going to be front page news."

"Swell." Danny rubbed his eyes.

"What happened?" Steve asked.

"I put the bomb in a fountain and then ran like a rabbit. It should have gone off by now, so I'm going to stay in my rabbit hole and let the bomb squad handle it."

"You scared me, partner."

"Scared me, too," Danny answered. "Thanks, brother."

"I'd say 'anytime,' but I'd rather not do this ever again."

"Seconded. All in favor?"

"Aye," the men said together fervently.

* * *

><p>Danny heard sirens approaching from Harbor Boulevard and a black van charged across the plaza followed by two police cars. The cop lurched to his feet and ran to tell the bomb squad what had happened.<p>

The backwash of adrenalin left Danny weak and shaking. He remained sitting while the bomb experts cautiously approached the fountain. One of the patrol cars pulled up next to the ticket booth.

"Detective Williams?"

"Hi Randy," Danny greeted Lt. Randolph. "Long time, no see."

Randolph crouched beside the Jerseyan. "Can't you stay out of trouble for a week in my jurisdiction?"

"I never used to be like this," Danny protested. "But then I met a trouble magnet and now I've been trouble magnetized."

"I heard that," said a tinny voice from the phone.

"You were supposed to," Danny answered.

The head of the bomb squad returned. "Looks like it's been safely deactivated," he reported to the lieutenant. "How did you know what to do?" he asked Danny.

"I called a Navy SEAL," Danny answered, and handed over the phone.

"What happened to your daughter?" Randolph asked.

"I sent her to safety with the guy who stopped your perp," Danny answered. "An Army sergeant named Jake Todd. They're supposed to be at Goofy's Kitchen, which was as far away as I could think to send her."

"I'll check." Margot spoke into her radio.

* * *

><p>Grace cried all the way to Goofy's Kitchen. She didn't make a production out of it, but she couldn't stop the tears from flowing.<p>

She had been rationally concerned, but not unduly so, during the incidents at the ballpark and the beach. Those were just bad guys to be arrested. Danno was the best at catching bad guys, even Uncle Steve said so (when Danny wasn't listening). But this was a bomb. Danno didn't do bombs, so Grace was terribly, awfully scared for her father.

Mrs. Todd, a slender young woman with coffee colored skin, put her arm around the distraught girl. Her 4-year-old son gave Grace a big hug.

"Don' cry. It's Dizzy. Don' cry at Dizzy," he commanded.

Sgt. Todd paced nervously and tried to reassure the others. "I'm sure we would have heard if the bomb went off."

A sleek young woman in a Disneyland Hotel uniform approached the foursome. "Miss Grace Williams?"

Grace wiped her eyes and nodded. The woman handed her a radio.

"Monkey?" she heard her father's voice.

"Danno? Are you OK?" the girl said tearfully.

"I'm fine, baby, honest. The bomb didn't go off. Everyone's safe." Danny told her the Disney people wanted to talk to him and to the Todds, so they were all going to meet in the lobby of the Disneyland Hotel. "I'll be there in just a few minutes."

Danny had already been tired after a long day of running around Disneyland. The stress of dealing with a time bomb had wiped him out. He was glad to get a lift to the hotel in an electric cart.

He climbed out as slowly as a 90-year-old, but revived somewhat when his teary-eyed daughter ran to hug him.

"I was scared," Grace said, burying her face in her father's side.

"So was I," Danny admitted. "But I did what I always do when I'm out of my depth."

"You called for backup?"

"I called for backup," Danny confirmed, as he moved toward the Todds and a group of Disney execs. "And, of course, Steve knew what to do. That man knows more about explosives than is healthy for my heart, but this time it came in handy."

"Who's Steve?" the sergeant asked, as he extended a hand to offer congratulations.

"Steve McGarrett. My boss, my partner and a Navy SEAL."

"A good friend to know under that situation," Todd agreed.

Under any situation, Danny thought, though he'd never say as much to Steve. No point giving him a swelled head.

The Disneyland executive introduced himself as Trevor Loftus. His assistant was Michaela Lopez.

"I don't suppose there's any chance of keeping my part in this quiet?" Danny said wistfully.

"Not when Mr. McGarrett's conversation was witnessed by a whole flock of reporters. We've already been contacted by all the local news stations and newspapers," Loftus said.

"And it's going viral on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Someone with a long lens posted pictures of you putting the bomb in the fountain," Lopez said.

"Oy!" Danny looked at his daughter. "Your mom is going to kill me," he said mournfully.

"I guess we'd better not tell her about the ballgame and the beach," Grace said.

"Please!" Danny begged.

Grace nodded and pressed close to her father's leg. She might never see Danny again if Rachel found out everything.

The brief Williams discussion went over the others' heads.

"As a thank you, we would like you to be our guests at the park tomorrow," Loftus said. "All of you," he added, including the Todd family.

Danny hesitated. He still had a day left on his tickets, but he wasn't sure about returning.

"VIP passes," Loftus coaxed. "Front of the line on every ride. No waiting." He saw Danny's hesitation. "You wouldn't want your daughter's last impression of Disneyland to be this … frightening event."

Danny looked at Grace's tear-streaked face.

"Ride in a parade down Main Street," Loftus said slyly.

Grace lit up like a lightbulb.

"I guess that's a yes," Danny said.

Loftus turned to the Todds. Mrs. Todd regarded her toddler, now fast asleep in his stroller, and told her husband, "I think Jakie is Disneyed out, but maybe you could take Keesha and Levon." Todd loved roller coasters, but hadn't been able to go on any of the wilder rides with a 4-year-old along.

Todd explained, "We're staying with my brother and his family. My niece and nephew would love to come."

"Of course," Lopez said instantly, "And your brother, too, if he'd like. But something for you, Mrs. Todd? How about a quiet spa day at the Grand Californian. You know nobody has better childcare than Disney."

She took the family aside to settle the arrangements.

Loftus turned his attention back to the Williamses. Grace had a question.

"Does the VIP pass include California Adventure, too?"

"Of course, did you have something particular in mind?"

"Daddy would like to meet Chef Duff," Grace said boldly, to her father's embarrassment. Friday had celebrity programs at the Food and Wine Festival and their favorite Food Network cake baker was on the schedule.

"Easily done," Loftus agreed. There was often a table set aside for special guests at the celebrity programs.

"I have one problem with the parade business," Danny said. "I'd like to keep Grace low key, for her protection."

Grace pouted, because she really wanted to ride in the parade. Loftus considered. "How would you like to be a princess, Grace? The costume would be a disguise."

Grace nodded. Danny clasped hands with Loftus to seal the deal.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Just two chapters to go._


	17. Celebrity Status

**Chapter 17**

**Day 6-7, Thursday-Friday – Celebrity status**

Danny held up his hands to silence the barrage of questions at the press conference. "Look, you all know as much about what I did as I do. I attribute everything to my military friends. I saw a bomb, but Sgt. Todd stopped the bomber from getting away. And Commander McGarrett told me what to with it. He told me to douse it, so I put it in the fountain and ran for cover in case that didn't work. It was the Anaheim PD bomb squad who had the most dangerous job of walking up to the bomb to see if it was really disabled or not."

"You aren't experienced with explosives, Detective. Why didn't you take cover like everyone else?"

"I couldn't let a lunatic blow up a cultural icon like Disneyland!" Danny said in horror. "Besides, I still have a day left on my ticket."

Everyone chuckled. Danny waved off any further questions and left the rest of the press conference to Loftus and Lt. Randolph, who explained that the would-be bomber said he wanted revenge because he had been turned down for a job at Disneyland — "Because Disney HR people are good judges of character," Randolph muttered to Danny.

Afterward, Lopez sneaked him and Grace out the back and took them back to their hotel in her personal car. "See you tomorrow," she called as she left.

After impressing the hotel desk clerks with his immense and unshakeable desire for privacy, Danny ushered his daughter to their room. Then and only then did he turn his phone back on.

Thirty-five missed calls, almost all from Rachel. Some from his mother and other concerned family and friends. One from Steve that just said, "Call us when you get a chance."

Danny decided to get the worst over with first. He put Grace's earbuds on her and turned on her iPod, locked himself in the bathroom, took a deep breath and called Rachel. After listening to a 10-minute rant — if you call setting the cell phone on the sink while he washed his face and got a drink of water "listening" — Danny barked into the phone. "Rachel! I did not plant the bomb. I only found it. I sent Grace to safety as far away as I could. Both of us are fine and if you'll stop yelling I'll give the phone to our daughter so you can ask her yourself."

Danny left the bathroom, tugged out an earbud and handed Grace the phone. She had spent the 10 minutes planning her own attack. "Mommy! Danno's a hero! He's going to be in a parade tomorrow!"

Rachel was stymied. As angry as she got with Danny, she never bad-mouthed him to Grace. And, really, what could she say when Grace was so proud?

"Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm OK, really. I was scared for Daddy because he doesn't do bombs, but he called Uncle Steve." She started chattering about the VIP passes and all the fun she and Danny were going to have the next day.

Her father admired her technique. How much was calculated to put her mother at ease and how much was just Grace's natural resilience and enthusiasm? Danny couldn't tell. Eventually Grace handed the phone back.

"We'll be home on schedule on Saturday," he told Rachel.

* * *

><p><strong>Friday, Day 7 - VIP Day at Disneyland<strong>

According to Grace, the Williamses VIP day at Disneyland was awesome! With Lopez as their escort, they started at early opening and, with no lines to stand in, they got on every ride they wanted to — every single one — at Disneyland. Twice on Pirates and Star Tours. (They didn't do every attraction, however, because, for one thing, Danny flatly refused to go inside the Tiki Room again.)

Lopez brought one of the Disney photographers along. Danny handed over his camera and the Williams duo spent a lot of time posing for pictures they thought their friends would like — in front of the Rivers of America and Pirates of the Caribbean. In front of the Dole pineapple whip stand next to the Tiki Room, Danny pretended to be recoiling in horror. They got a picture in front of the castle with no other people in it, because the Disney employees herded everyone out of the way for just a moment. By special request, Alice in Wonderland met them by the Teacups and posed for a picture with Grace.

"Aren't you getting in this one?" Lopez asked.

"No, this one is for my ex-wife and her mother," he explained.

He knew his English ex would appreciate the tea party theme.

Then they patiently waited for the Monorail Purple (purple, not orange, not red — purple!) to pass over the submarine lagoon while a fleet of yellow subs sailed by. That was the photo Danny wanted for his desk.

Sated with rides and with posing, they made their way behind the scenes to the parade staging area.

Led by a marching band from a local high school, they rode a parade float down Main Street with Danny standing among Disney heroes and Grace seated among princesses thoroughly disguised by Rapunzel's long blonde wig. It was perfect. She could be seen and admired, even photographed — because she was so cute! — but no one really noticed her.

At lunchtime they switched over to Disney's California Adventure for lasagna as good as grandmother made.

Escorted to a special table at the celebrity food presentation, they got a special treat when Chef Duff Goldman invited them on stage to serve as his sous chefs. Grace got a photo of her father and Duff laughing together after a mixer mishap sprayed powdered sugar all over them. Duff signed an autograph for Grace, but he did it with icing on a chocolate cookie, leaving her the dilemma of keeping the autograph or eating the cookie. Danny, the brilliant detective, photographed "the evidence" for posterity, then helped her eat the cookie. After the program, Duff gave them each an autographed photo because he was a tease, but he wasn't a meanie.

Then they rode all the rides they wanted to at DCA (avoiding the clothes-soaking Grizzly Rapids raft ride). They went on Soarin' Over California three times and caught the last Aladdin show of the day, before finishing up with dinner on the house at the top flight Napa Rose restaurant in the Grand Californian Hotel.

By that time, Grace was flagging (their 6 a.m. wake-up call was 3 a.m. back home!) so they forwent the fireworks and were chauffeured back to their hotel.

* * *

><p>As Danny tucked his daughter into bed, she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you, Danno, It was the best vacation I ever had!" she said.<p>

"I didn't spoil it by ending up working all the time?"

Grace shook her head emphatically. "Now everyone knows why you're my hero," she said.

Danny touched his forehead to hers and rubbed noses. "Love you, monkey."

"Love you more," the girl replied.

* * *

><p><strong>Saturday, Day 8 – Home again<strong>

When Danny walked into the terminal at LAX, he saw two police cars outside, one with an HB logo on the side and one that said Anaheim Police in great big letters.

Inside he found Randolph chatting with Sanchez and Altmont.

Danny shook their hands. "You come to see us off?"

"We just wanted to make sure you were actually leaving, you trouble magnet," Randolph said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Ha ha," Danny said. "You watch out. Next time I'll bring my partner and you'll see a real trouble magnet. I'm just slightly trouble magnetized from being around him too much."

* * *

><p>Danny didn't let his brother officers know how nervous he really was. The way trouble had escalated on his trip, he half expected to run into a hijacking or a terrorist plot.<p>

While Grace worked on her school report on the airplane. Danny worried. He was a nervous wreck by the time the plane landed.

But nothing happened. Perhaps because his vacation was over, he thought wryly. Danny tucked Grace's laptop in his daypack. She was letting him borrow it to finish organizing their photos. They walked off the plane and into the terminal. Danny breathed a sigh of relief.

Just when he thought he was safe, he walked into the baggage claim area and saw his troubles were just beginning.

Rachel was waiting by the luggage carousel.

* * *

><p><strong>Only one chapter to go. Don't you hate it when the vacation's over? <strong>


	18. Back to Work

_**All good things must come to an end.  
>Note: All the souvenirs are real, though a couple are from years past.<strong>_

**Chapter 18**

**Saturday, Day 8 – Back to work**

"Mommy!" Grace exclaimed in delight. She ran and threw her arms around her mother, chattering about the trip. "I brought you a present. It's a picture frame and you can pick which photo you want after Daddy prints out the best ones."

Rachel smiled fondly and smoothed her daughter's hair. "That's nice, Grace. We'll have fun picking the perfect photo."

The expression she turned on Danny was darker than the one she gave her daughter. Not wanting to argue in front of Grace, their sharp exchange took place in glares: "How could you?" "What did you want me to do!"

The child of divorce was experienced at reading her parents' moods, but didn't know what she could do about it until she saw someone lurking at the edge of the crowd. "Uncle Steve!"

She ran to her father's partner. "Your sister gave me something to give to you."

"What's that?" Steve asked, kneeling down to child level.

"This." Grace threw her arms around Steve in a strong and loving hug.

Steve grinned and hugged her back.

"I gave her one from you," Grace said in his ear.

"Then I should pay you back," he answered, lifting her off the ground in an all-consuming embrace and spinning her around, before he set her on her feet again.

"I think you might have change coming from that hug," Danny told Steve. This loving scene dissolved his Rachel-inspired bad temper. "That was a pretty good one."

"Not as good as a Grace hug. It takes two McGarrett hugs to equal one Grace hug," Steve responded, taking Grace's hand and leading her back to the others.

Even Rachel was smiling now.

Danny saw their bags approaching and pounced, grabbing his while Steve caught Grace's. The commander turned the handle over to Rachel and they all began walking toward the exit.

They separated on the street, but Grace had to give her father one more hug.

"Thank you, Danno," she said. And she whispered in his ear, because she didn't want to hurt her mother's feelings, "Best vacation ever!"

* * *

><p>Steve dropped Danny at his apartment and lingered, asking if he enjoyed the trip, despite the occasional police interruptions.<p>

"Best vacation ever," Danny said, echoing Grace's words.

"Bring me anything?" Steve asked, raising his eyebrows and glancing at Danny's suitcase.

Danny laughed and shooed his friend out the door. You get your presents on Monday with everyone else. Steve gave an exaggerated pout.

"Monday," Danny said in his best Daddy voice. "Anyway, I need to get some pictures printed up first."

"OK, see you Monday. Glad you're back, partner."

* * *

><p><strong>Sunday, Honolulu, last day of vacation<strong>

Danny spent Saturday evening sorting out the photos he wanted to print up. Sunday morning, he loaded them on a memory card and took them to a drugstore. Sure he could have printed them himself (if he'd had a printer) but the prints would last longer if done on professional equipment. The photo kiosk walked him through the process and he ended up with a thick handful of 4x6s and several larger 5x7s.

He took Grace and Rachel's share of the photos to their house, returning Grace's laptop at the same time so she could work on her report. Rachel exclaimed over the pictures (all Grace and no Danny) and, as predicted, adored the one with Alice in Wonderland and the Teacups.

"I made a print for your mom, too, since she doesn't have an email account."

"Thank you, Daniel. That was very thoughtful."

Danny also gave Rachel two small, plastic photo albums with Disneyland pictures on the cover. Each folder would hold about a dozen photos, just enough to mail to grandmother or to carry around to show your friends.

Grace liked her pictures, too, preferring the ones with Danny included. She laughed when she showed her mother the one of Danny recoiling from the pineapple whip and the one with him and Duff covered with powdered sugar. But she hid the one with Danny rescuing the girl in the pool, because she was afraid it would make her mother scared again. That was Grace's special hero photo.

After leaving the Edwards home, Danny made one more stop to give Chin the watch for Malia, because that was private; but he warned his friend he'd have to wait until Monday to get his own presents.

Then Danny went home to finish his vacation by doing laundry and watching the Yankees win again, this time on TV. Seated in front of the TV, he picked out his favorite photos to fill a frame he'd brought from Disneyland. It had spaces for several shots, though not enough for all his favorites. He had to be stern with himself to pick the top 10. When he was done, he hung it on the wall where he could see it from the couch and the small kitchen table.

* * *

><p><strong>Monday, Honolulu, Back to work (sigh)<strong>

First Danny detoured by way of HPD to set a Minnie Mouse doll on Sgt. Lukela's desk.

"Don't you play with that," he jokingly warned the burly young officer on duty at the moment. "That's for Duke's granddaughter."

"I'll guard it with my life!" the young man swore with a grin.

* * *

><p>Danny carried two big bags emblazoned with Disneyland logos into Five-0 headquarters. The other three poured from their offices to greet him.<p>

"Did you miss me? Or do you just want your presents?" Danny joked.

"Presents!" his three friends chorused.

Danny pretended to scowl and take away the bags. Kono laughed and gave him a big hug. "We missed you, brah," she said. "We missed you a lot!"

Chin agreed. Shaking Danny's hand warmly, as if he hadn't seen him the day before, he said, "Yeah, we only closed one case while you were gone and that was because you caught Toma in California."

"Wait," Steve protested. "We only had one case while Danny was gone."

Kono ignored her boss. "See, we can't manage without you," she told Danny. "Now, what'd you bring me?"

"OK, first this. I was afraid they were going to get crushed in my suitcase, so I packed them in a cardboard box." He pulled a smaller Disneyland bag out of the larger bag and produced a set of mouse ears. The traditional black cap with black plastic ears and a Disneyland logo on the front.

"This is mine, classic basic black," Danny said. "This one is for Chin, our computer wiz."

Laid-back, reserved Chin Ho Kelly cracked up when Danny handed him a set of Star Tours inspired mouse ears where the design of the cap resembled the domed top of R2-D2's head. Danny turned the hat so they could see "Chin Ho" embroidered on the back in cursive gold thread.

"For the lady, we have a little bling," Danny continued, producing a set of princess mouse ears in pastel blue decorated with sparkles and frothy material with "Kono" embroidered on the back in dark blue. "Grace got one just like this, but in pink."

Steve was still wondering if he was going to get a present or if he'd pissed off his partner by making him work. The commander brightened when Danny said, "And for you, Super SEAL … Well, I couldn't find camouflage, but this is the next best thing."

They were pirate mouse ears, with a skull and crossbones and an eye patch pattern and "Steven" embroidered in blood red.

Steve took it with a grin as bright as any child's. "So you did remember it's Navy, not Army."

Danny reached back into the bag. "More?" Kono asked. She didn't expect a lot, because Danny never had a lot of money to spare.

"Maybe I got carried away," Danny admitted. He loved buying presents for people. "These are for you, from Huntington Beach, and these are from Disneyland." He handed over a collection of Surf City magnets, a Surf City T-shirt/beach cover-up and the pin of Minnie Mouse surfing with a dolphin.

Kono adored them all. She even adored the fastener on the pin back. The rubber piece was shaped like mouse ears.

"Then for the man who introduced me to cocoa puffs," Danny handed over a sampler with Disneyland fudge in many flavors. "They make it in the candy store window. Made me crazy every time I walked by." Danny also gave Chin a T-shirt with an understated Disneyland logo over the pocket.

For Steve the grill master, Danny handed over the Mickey Mouse barbecue apron and spatula, and the bag of Mickey pasta that made all the Five-0 folks grin.

"I know what we're having with our steaks next Saturday," Kono said, shamelessly inviting everyone over to Steve's house.

Danny wasn't finished yet.

"And ..." He rummaged in the bag and pulled out a Disney picture frame with Tinkerbell hovering over the castle. "No, not this one. This is mine." The 5x7 photo showed Danny and Grace in front of the Submarine lagoon with the purple Monorail curving above. While they were admiring the Disney photographer's workmanship, Danny brought out the other picture frame, this one with Disney's big five, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and, of course, his partner's namesake Goofy, scattered around the edge.

"Is that the picture of you and Grace with Mickey that you promised me?" Steve asked, remembering their conversation of a week ago.

"Not exactly. I felt weird giving you a picture of myself. Despite what people say, we are not married."

"And never will be," Steve agreed promptly.

"Exactly! Sooo…" Danny turned the photo so Steve could see. The grateful waitress had taken it in the steakhouse. It showed Danny and Mary Ann hugging a grinning Grace in between them.

Danny held one finger pressed to his lips, nervously waiting.

Steve's heart clenched. This was his family right here, he realized: his sister, his niece and the brother he'd always wanted.

"Thanks, man," he said sincerely in a voice that broke with emotion. Danny shuffled his feet in pleased embarrassment.

"Can we see the rest of your pictures?" Kono asked, deliberately breaking up the tension.

Grateful for the interruption, Danny spread out a selection of prints, inviting his friends to take any they wanted. The pineapple whip photo was a hit, just as he'd expected. Everybody wanted one, but he'd gotten enough to go around. Chin complimented the photography as he picked out a couple of artistic photos of the park. Steve gravitated to the "Navy" photos, including the sailing ship Columbia and the Nemo submarines. Kono went for the cute Grace and Danny photos, not the ones taken by the professional photographer, but the ones father and daughter had taken of each other.

"So, I take it you and Grace had a good time," Steve said.

* * *

><p>At school, Grace was showing off one of the mini albums to her friends. It had a nice selection of pictures of her and her father at Disneyland, the baseball game and Huntington Beach. Her own special album was at home in her treasure box. It had 13 photos, all of her father, with the pool rescue photo hidden behind another. It included the pineapple whip picture, the one with Duff, one she took at the Angels-I-mean-Yankees game, one on the Huntington Beach Pier and a couple taken during their VIP day at the resort. The pride of the album showed Danno riding in the parade surrounded by Disney heroes — just the way she always thought of him.<p>

"Was it fun?" one of Grace's friends asked her.

* * *

><p>All unknowing, at the same moment, father and daughter gave their friends the same answer: "Best vacation ever!"<p>

**The End**

_**A/N: Thanks for sticking with me on this fluffy adventure. Got a couple stories in the works, one of which may end up as long as this one. But typing with carpal tunnel syndrome is slow work, so bear with me. See you soon. **_


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